AT&T to cut around 4,600 jobs
NEW YORK (AP) - April 18, 2008 The nation's largest telecommunications provider said most of
the layoffs will be among managers, particularly in wireline
operations, including local phone service and service for large
corporate customers. Jobs in corporate functions in like finance
will also be cut.
"Even with the reductions announced today, we expect our head
count overall to remain stable this year as we hire additional
employees to support growth areas like wireless and TV," said
spokesman Michael Coe.
The San Antonio-based company said in a regulatory filing that
it plans to take a $374 million first-quarter pretax charge against
earnings due to the job cuts. The company reports first-quarter
earnings on Tuesday.
The company had 309,500 employees at the end of last year. When
it announced the acquisition of BellSouth Corp. in 2006, it has
said it would cut 10,000 jobs over three years from the combined
company to eliminate overlap. The cuts announced Friday are not
part of that reduction, and is the largest announcement of job cuts
by the company since then.
Despite the layoffs associated with the BellSouth acquisition,
the combined work force grew by 7,000 last year, as the company
built up its growing wireless and TV divisions even as land lines
shrank in the face of competition from wireless and cable phone
service.
Its shares fell 6 cents to $37.51 Friday.