I'm in the Seattle/Tacoma area and have been doing this for a very long time. I have to say I have never seen it this slow for this long a period of time. Just curious if it's an isolated thing or if it's company wide. Any input and please, include some reference to your general vicinity.
BTW to be perfectly honest, if were a bean counter, I'd be looking to get rid of some beans around here right about now.
"I'm in the Seattle/Tacoma area and have been doing this for a very long time. I have to say I have never seen it this slow for this long a period of time. Just curious if it's an isolated thing or if it's company wide. Any input and please, include some reference to your general vicinity.
BTW to be perfectly honest, if were a bean counter, I'd be looking to get rid of some beans around here right about now."
I have seen it, there is work in the pipeline being held back, no work for groups and they justify over staffing and layoff, the biggest issue is they rarely balance the management with the workforce.
When you have 12 crew members trying to support the salaries of 20 Management types you see where we are in trouble, there is a huge out of balance.
Couple that with not doing maintenance on the plant and buildings and vehicles and when a problem happens it's a rebuild or replacement of something at a huge cost difference.
Throw selling buildings and resources in to make revenue and cash look better then it really is and you have where we are right now.
It doesn’t really matter how busy we are in Colorado, management realizes that X number of techs = X number of management jobs and they force us to falsify records through bogus job types to dilute dispatch times on what valid work we do have and create the illusion that we’re always busy. Colorado Springs has been doing this for decades.
We have little to no work. If Jeff wasn’t so laser focused on random bulk layoffs, he might notice the groups that spend multiple Days at a time in the crew room without even leaving. The man is dropping nickels to pick up pennies
Works crazy busy in Phoenix it always is though I have 20 years
I am ALL 4 Unions...strength in numbers, YES. But, are they gonna help me pay my light bill, day care, insurance deductible? P.S. I do not have a bass boat and my 17 year old truck needs new tires that I will hopefully get when I have money saving up for two months!
In response to the comment below: "Confused in my 25 years in Telecom TDM has always and probably will continue to be defined as Time-division Multiplexing."
You are correct. TDM is time division multiplexing. It is the legacy synchronous method of data transport. Even analog telephone calls are encoded as digital information at the first digital switch, and are transmitted over TDM transport systems to their destination.
My point was that legacy synchronous transport systems are being replaced by asynchronous switched packet-switched transport systems. This is the new network schema that techs have to train themselves for if they want to understand how networks operate. This is happening now, not in the distant future.
Field Techs will have to fully understand packet switched technology in the near future when the premise equipment they work on will digitize voice and data traffic right at the customer premise. Would you like an example of how this has been working for many years now? Your cell phone is a end user device that encodes your voice into a digital signal for transport to a distant destination via packet switching and packet switched transport systems. It's digital all the way, end to end, and it always has been from the inception of cell phones. That's what copper techs have to catch up with if they want to stay employed in the near future when copper is completely obsolete everywhere except the extreme rural areas.
If you read my post below carefully, you will see old and new methods, and you will also see different network layers, which are the switching, transport, and local distribution layers. PSN will traverse all of these layers from end user device to end user device, just like cell phones do now, and that is why field techs need to take the initiative to train themselves. They need to stop living dependent on overtime to but that new bass boat motor, and spend a couple of hours on the couch each night training for certifications and/or online degrees in modern telecom networking.
If copper field techs don't know what the OSI model is, they need to learn it top to bottom and understand what telecom industry data is associated to each layer of it. You can't set up test equipment and isolate problems on a packet switched network if you don't know what packet switching is. CTL is going to employ techs who already know what it is, and that's just the way the industry works now, like it or not. That's reality even for me, a career-long union member.
Confused in my 25 years in Telecom TDM has always and probably will continue to be defined as Time-division Multiplexing. Not sure what you are speaking of. Also for the genius that tried to put pieces together by saying National does not work with Local, you sir are an id--t. Many areas are working side by side now. Good day sirs!
Copper is too expensive to maintain, and can't provide the bandwidth that customers demand from today's telecom providers. Time domain transport systems (TDM) are rapidly being replaced by replaced by packet switched systems (PSN.) If you don't understand what I just said, you definintely need to read the rest of this post. Most Techs who don't understand this are on the last mile copper distribution to the premise side of the house. These copper distribution systems are being replaced very quickly by fiber, and our competitor's hybrid fiber/co-ax systems, and will soon be replaced by 5G wireless distribution systems. It's happening now, not later, and that's the real reason for layoffs. Service Techs need to understand this, and make adjustments to their skill sets if they want to survive the transition. I posted a thread below titled "If You Plan To Work In Telecom." It contains links to data telecommunications and engineering certifications. In a packet switched telecom world, this is what you are going to need to stay employed and send the kids off to college. I'm not discouraging union participation as a means of job security. I am a union member myself. I'm just telling you what the most effective means of staying employed in a rapidly changing telecom environment is. Yes, there is strength in numbers, but there is also strength in taking the individual initiative to obtain training and certification in the skill sets that techs and engineers need in a rapidly changing telecom industry.
Look at all the angry responses ! they are angry because they know its coming.....and it will mess up what they planned for themselves. Hate to say it but angry lil union souls. Storey WILL get rid of you all he is slowly chipping away at whats left
There are people losing their jobs right now in Mid-atlantic and trust me, it has nothing to do with seniority. As a matter of fact, we can't figure out how they determine who is going.
I call BS on the “nation” guy. If you were national then you do not work with local and therefore don’t know who’s union and who’s not, and also wouldn’t know what areas are being surpluses. You claim to not post on here because of negativity yet that’s exactly what you bring to the conversation? Kick rocks buddy.
We just went on mandatory OT in mid Atlantic
They just move you to a different title then layoff the old title not that hard. Curious how people keep getting new titles around here.
I am sorry you believe that (seniority) idea. I am telling you with first hand knowledge you are incorrect. I know it sounds shady and maybe it is. Facts are Facts. It’s weird how union members won’t listen to facts.
The slowdown is manufactured, and it’s company wide. They are pushing out all orders and repairs out so they can control overtime and the fact that they went to a standardized pricing for services. People don’t want to pay $50 for a 3,5,7 or 12meg. When it was priced according to speed we had a lot more work.
If you are in a unionized area it doesn’t matter if you are a member or not, they can NOT pick and choose who stays and goes, it’s done by seniority period. SMFH
I am with the National side. We have been quite busy in the West. I very rarely respond on here because there is so much negativity. I agree if there is no work typically “beans” get let go. I to have been doing this a very long time and I to can read the writing on the wall. The facts are this; Storey does not like the Union mentality and wants the CWA and IBEW out. If you want to maintain a job remove your union status. I won’t divulge to much but two guys I know have done this and they stayed. They were JR. guys.