After announcing it would pay staff bonuses of USD 1,000 following the passage of the tax reform bill in the US, AT&T also handed out pink slips to hundreds of workers in Illinois and five other Midwest states, the Chicago Tribune reported. About 600 workers across a variety of positions, from retail sales clerks to satellite technicians, were notified about the layoffs in the runup to Christmas, said sources close to the situation.
The New York Post noted that 215 technicians in nine Southern states were fired in December and that another 700 employees would be let go in Texas and Missouri in February. Other layoffs include over 700 DirecTV home installers across the country. In general, AppleInsider said it has confirmed layoffs in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
AT&T declined to confirm the scope of the layoffs to the Chicago Tribune, but said in an emailed statement that it was making “workforce adjustments” in its declining legacy services. “Technology improvements are driving higher efficiencies and there are some areas where demand for our legacy services continues to decline, and we’re adjusting our workforce in some of those areas as we continue to align our workforce with the changing needs of the business,” the company said. “Many of the affected employees have a job offer guarantee that ensures they’ll be offered another job with the company, and we’ll work to find other jobs for as many of them as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Communications Workers of America, which represents AT&T workers in Illinois and across the US, said the union is still “assessing the effect” of the layoffs. CWA recently announced it had reached a tentative contract agreement with AT&T for 21,000 wireless workers in 36 states that included a 10.1 percent raise over four years and job security protections in the event a retail store or call centre closes. The employees are set to vote 12 January on the new agreement.
Employees have three weeks to find and apply for another job within the company, or the termination is permanent.
