Layoffs are just a visible indicator of a slow death spiral into oblivion for CenturyLink or any company that failed to plan for the future. When you attempt to run a company by quarterly earnings you lose the long term vision of where to invest your resources to continue on a healthy economic path. Toyota has a 100 year business plan and their stock price is in the triple digits and they do pay dividends. They also make serious investments in their employees, equipment and R&D. Forgot to mention that they have a no layoff policy for full time employees. From what I see CTL only has a 3 – 6 month business plan to cut expenses at all costs and sell anything they can make a quick buck on. Being Captain obvious here but I fully expect CTL to be broken up into bits and pieces and after they are satisfied nothing is left to pillage all the executives will step away with as much of the profits as they could grab. If you were fortunate enough to have a pension that will be cut in half once CTL claims bankruptcy and leaves the Federal Govt. holding the bag to pay the pensions.
In a nutshell it all comes down to greed and a complete lack of any vision and morality by CTL’s corporate executives and pretty much corporate America as a whole.
Remember Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio convicted of insider trading in 2002? How about WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers sentenced to 25 years on nine counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and making false regulatory filings? History does repeat itself but under the relaxed regulatory environment of Donald Trump and the current short life expectancy of CTL we probably won’t have the pleasure of watching history repeat itself.
It’s just a travesty to have these inept corrupt people destroy what were once good companies and the people who worked for them.