AT&T to Cut 12,000 Jobs

AT&T to Cut 12,000 Jobs

by Jeff Gamet

Telecom giant and Apple iPhone partner AT&T revealed on Thursday that it plans to cut about 12,000 jobs, or four percent of its workforce, through 2009. The layoffs are in response to a weaker economy and what the company called "a changing business mix." AT&T plans to start cutting jobs in December as part of a move to streamline its organizational structure. Certain jobs, however, are off limits because of work guarantees in union contracts. Even as AT&T axes some jobs it plans to increase staff in other areas including wireless, video and broadband to meet customer demand. The move may be in response -- at least in part -- to the changing telecom landscape as more customers move away from traditional phone service to rely just on cellphone instead.