AT&T sees 10,000 job cuts after BellSouth deal

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Inc. expects to cut 10,000 jobs between 2007 and 2009 after its $67 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. has closed, AT&T said on Monday.

The job cuts, which would represent about 3 percent of the combined work force, are part of AT&T's aim to save $18 billion after the merger, with average annual savings of $2 billion a year starting in 2008.

Other savings would include cutbacks of as much as $500 million in annual spending on advertising as the company moves to a single AT&T brand from the current three separate brands, including Cingular, its wireless venture with BellSouth.

-snip-

The deal, announced on Sunday, would bring ownership of Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless telephone company, under one roof, which Wall Street analysts have said would streamline management and allow one parent company to enjoy all of the financial benefits.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-03-06T172353Z_01_N06253034_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-ATT.xml

[ThomCat]

1. This whole thing is going to be a nightmare.

AT&T was the one of the most poorly managed companies, with the worst bureaucracy and horrible customer service. They merged with SBC, who was only right down there at the bottom with them.

Now they want to take the SBC/AT&T behemoth that still won't be integrated for several years and add in Bell South and Cingular. (They already own half of Cingular. This would give them the other half.)

The service will be fractured and disjointed. The billing systems won't talk to each other. The customer service will be even worse.

The only people who will benefit are top executives and major shareholders. Customers and employees get screwed!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

2. I agree

After tiring of Comcast's terrible customer service, and AT&T Broadband screwed up my email so badly that my clients had to contact me through a web addy, I cancelled all AT&T-branded services and have lived happily without them for almost four years. Now my snailmail box is stuffed with proud announcements of the SBC/AT&T merger, and I can only hope that my phone service will not become as fucked up by AT&T as my broadband and cable TV services were. Switching providers comes with its own risks so I would like to avoid if possible. But my hopes are not high.

[On the Road]

13. If It Makes You Feel Any Better,

I understand NONE of the top managers come from AT&T. SBC cleaned house and only adopted the AT&T brand name. Good move on their part. That incompetent bunch should not be allowed to screw up any more corporations.

[allisonthegreat]

26. My luck..my wireless is with Cingular

I figured that they would remerge at some point...

[Earth_First]

3. With layoffs and outsourcing...

who's going to be the consumer that drives our consumer society? :shrug:

[raccoon]

15. That's what I'd like to know. I've been wondering that for years.

Americans making McWages can't afford a lifestyle they used to have when they had real jobs. With real benefits.

[StrafingMoose]

19. The third world...

WE will be working for 0.50$ an hour to provide them with what we have been enjoying for the past 50 years. What's easier for them ? Designing new products and services for our saturated markets or just flipping the tables around ? And by doing so, they will be mass looting all these 401k plans and pension funds, muchos dineros for these criminals.

[pinniped]

4. *'s eCONomy is a reverse job machine.

.

[onehandle]

5. BellSouth has been laying off and outsourcing through Accenture for years.

To attract this kind of deal.

To quote Lou Dobbs, "Accenture, a foreign company."

Bush is in India dancing on the dead jobs of Americans.

[Eurobabe]

6. So what the fuck, does Cingular brand cease to exist

and we're all back to AT&T again? AT&T wireless was awful, I have no complaints about Cingular. Jeebus people, get your act together, make up yer friggin minds!

[corporate_mike]

25. Yeah, probably becoming AT&T Wireless

[Roland99]

7. And the problem is? Come on! The economy is ON FIRE!

These people will land great-paying jobs in a matter of days.

If they don't, they were just a bunch of lazy bums just waiting to suck off the teat of government welfare.





:sarcasm:

[tanyev]

12. It is ON FIRE! Soon there will be nothing left but ashes.

[KamaAina]

8. Lovely. They were already moving jobs out of NOLA as fast as they could.

Now they'll have the perfect excuse: "We're not abandoning the city. We would never do such a thing. It's just that with this merger, you see..." :puke:

[VegasWolf]

9. Bush's service sector job push is perfect for FReepers, no high school

diploma is needed.

[jus_the_facts]

10. They're letting them MERGE BACK TOGETHER...

.....since WHEN have monopolies EVER been a GOOD thing?! :grr: :banghead:

[toopers]

11. With the cable companies offering the same services . . .

there is no telecom monopoly anymore.

[onenote]

17. getting there, but not yet

Most people do not yet have an alternative provider of local switched phone service. Cable operators are rolling it out, but there are plenty of areas that still have only one local phone company. On the other hand, cable programming is available to pretty much everyone from three sources: the cable operator, DirecTV and DISH.

onenote

[toopers]

28. You are leaving out wireless operators also.

A generation of people have been born that may not ever have a wireline phone -- who knows, in the future you may be issued a cellphone number along with your SS# when you're born!

[SharonAnn]

21. And now there's no regulation. We'll be at their mercy, totally!

[Orrin_73]

14. When the government provided these services it was seen as

a form of socialism. They were privatized and now they are again becoming a monolitic companies by mergers, this time owned by greedy investors who will overcharge the customers. So why was it privatized in the first place??? and what about competition. Didn't competition bring lower prices, obviously not.

[SharonAnn]

22. Government never provided these services. It regulated them, allegedly.

They were not privatized. They were broken up as a monopoly, into separate companies, to "improve competition". And because they wouldn't allow any other equipment on their lines.

Actually Wall Street financiers make out when they're split up and then again when they're bought back up. Hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions for each deal.

AT&T modems used to cost $500 monthly, be as large as a microwave, and run at 100-300 kbs. I know, I'm showing my age.

Other companies came out with small, inexpensive modems that youcould purchase, that ran much faster, but AT&T wouldn't let them connect to their lines.

What fun! Ah, those were the days. Proprietary wiring.

[onenote]

16. there could be some interesting timing issue here

It will be interesting to see if the FCC drags out its consideration of this merger so that it can't possibly close this year. The repubs aren't going to want a lot of layoffs being announced in the South right before the 2006 election.

onenote

[ronnykmarshall]

18. She baaaaccccckkkkkkk!

[0007]

20. AT &T is the pitts, the assholes of society. FUCK 'EM!

[VegasWolf]

23. Bush to outsourced former employees, "Let them eat mangoes!" nt

[njdemocrat106]

24. Is it just me, or does it seem these companies merge just to fire tons of

workers? I personally can't see anything good coming out of this merger.

[silvermachine]

27. Glad I use Working Assets...

...for both my long distance and wireless service.