AT&T Cuts More Than 37,000 Family Supporting Jobs Despite Promises of Job Creation

[Omaha Steve]

AT&’s Q4 earnings report, released today, shows that the company has cut 37,818 jobs since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect in 2018.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

WASHINGTON -- Today’s AT&T earnings report shows that AT&T continues to cut jobs and reduce capital expenditures even as the company announced record operating and free cash flow for 2019 and more than $5 billion in stock buybacks in the past four months. The company has cut 37,818 jobs since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) went into effect in 2018, including 4,040 in the fourth quarter of 2019. Capital expenditures declined by more than $1 billion in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Last week AT&T notified the Communications Workers of America (CWA) of its plans to cut an additional 200 technician positions in California on February 14, 2020.

AT&T and other corporations continue to be under scrutiny for failing to follow through on their promises to use tax windfalls to create jobs, raise wages and increase investment in infrastructure. AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson pledged to create 7,000 new jobs if President Trump’s corporate tax cuts passed. Stephenson also signed onto a statement as a member of the Business Roundtable committing to invest in employees and support the communities where they live and work. Instead, the company is cutting jobs and outsourcing work, including relying on lower wage subcontractors to build its 5G network.

Meanwhile, AT&T has continued to cater to the demands of controversial vulture hedge fund Elliott Management, which purchased a small stake in AT&T in September 2019. Elliott is pushing AT&T to extract profits from the company by eliminating jobs, outsourcing work, and divesting critical assets. In early October, AT&T announced that it would sell its Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island Mobility units to Liberty Latin America (LLA), putting at risk the deployment of FirstNet and nearly 900 union jobs.

FULL story: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/att-cuts-more-37000-family-supporting-jobs-despite-promises-of-job-creation