New Year Means More Layoffs at AT&T as 'No Place Is Safe' in Cost Cutting

AT&T once again is starting a new year with a fresh round of job cuts.

According to Axios, thousands of AT&T employees will be hunting for new jobs after assigning them to train their own foreign replacements. Many of the workers have been with AT&T for more than a decade, but won’t be getting severance or early retirement, and may not easily find a comparable job elsewhere with similar pay, it said.

AT&T already has inked deals with major outsourcing firms, it said.

At an investor conference last month, AT&T COO John Stankey said AT&T will decrease labor costs in 2020, but didn’t say if that will include layoffs or job freezes. He said every part of the company will be scrutinized.

“No place is safe,” he said. “We are looking across the entire business.”

Last summer, AT&T initiated plans to cut 1,880 U.S. jobs, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA). This followed the telco giant gearing up for layoffs a year ago.

According to AT&T, the number of impacted workers is much lower than is being reported by Axios.

“We are continuously working to make our operations more efficient,” said Marty Richter, AT&T spokesman. “To the extent possible, we’re managing this staff adjustment through attrition and are helping employees find other positions within the company. For those who can’t, we’re offering them severance pay and outplacement services.”

AT&T is working to finalize the number of affected employees, and potentially affected employees were given informal advance notice so they would have additional time to plan and look for other positions within the company.

AT&T has signed outsourcing agreements with companies like Accenture. According to posts on the TheLayoff, outsourcing agreements have led to offshoring and the elimination of U.S. jobs.

A number of employees affected by the Accenture agreement already are located internationally, according to AT&T. These are management roles, and no union positions are impacted.