Randall Stephenson testified AT&T would add 7,000 jobs if Trump’s tax cut passed, worth $billions to them. Instead, he has cut 37,000 positions. Randall’s going away, but his successor John Stankey is committing to even more cuts.
Almost everyone ignored the 2016 company plan to shed 80,000 positions, although my primary source was a top company executive to the NY Times. That’s a cruel, heartless cutback, possibly the largest since Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
It’s probably a good strategy for shareholders, however. Many other telcos are losing fortunes trying to grow in a low growth industry. Much of the 5G hype comes from Nokia & Ericsson trying to persuade telcos to invest in products unlikely to pay off. Until the DirecTV and Warner purchases, AT&T was avoiding stupid investments.
AT&T’s shareholders have been hit by the $20-30 billion dollar overpayment for the TV companies. Randall is a financial wizard and has long obscured AT&T’s underlying business. It now is borrowing money to raise the dividend and buy back stock. Top analyst Craig Moffett has a very rare sell on the stock.
America is a very cruel country to anyone over 40 who loses a job.