AT&T Continues Layoffs of More than 16K Americans to Outsource Jobs

Multinational conglomerate AT&T is continuing layoffs of more than 16,000 American workers since 2011 to outsource those jobs to foreign countries while it rakes in record profits.

A revealing report by The Guardian‘s Michael Sainato uncovers the extent to which multinational corporations like AT&T have profited from the GOP’s tax cuts passed last year, and yet they continue to lay off Americans to send their jobs to counties like Mexico, India, and the Phillippines.

Though AT&T executives were heralded for giving their workers $1,000 bonuses after the tax cuts were passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Trump, Americans keep losing their jobs to outsourcing.

Since 2011, AT&T has outsourced or eliminated more than 16,000 U.S. jobs, including the closure of 44 call centers. Just this year, AT&T has shuttered four call centers in the U.S. and sent those American jobs to foreign countries.

Americans like Cindy Liddick, who was interviewed in depth by The Guardian, have had to struggle with the prospect of having their job sent overseas. Liddick told The Guardian:

“My husband is very ill, I’m about to lose my health insurance and starting over in the job market at my age is going to be tough,” Liddick said. [Emphasis added]

…

“It’s hitting me really hard financially,” she said. “I could lose my house.” [Emphasis added]

At a call center in Appleton, Wisconsin, the number of American workers employed have been reduced from 500 to just 30. The Guardian spoke with an AT&T worker who was forced to take a different position at the company in Cleveland, Ohio after her local call center was shut down and the jobs were outsourced:

“My center closed in 2011. It was a shock to all of us. At the time we had an area manager telling us we had plenty of work to sustain our office,” said Laleelah Hunter, an AT&T call representative in Cleveland for 19 years. [Emphasis added]

Those Cleveland call center workers were given the option of having to relocate to Detroit, Michigan. Most were forced into unemployment.

AT&T worker Betsy LaFontaine, who spoke to The Guardian, noted that despite all the layoffs across the U.S. and American jobs being outsourced, the executives continue raking in record profits that keep growing.

LaFontaine’s call center in Appleton, Wisconsin was cut from 500 workers to now just 30 workers.

Meanwhile, AT&T is trying to merge with Time Warner, a move that would likely further cut the number of Americans employed at the multinational corporation. As Breitbart News noted, The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division is fighting the merger after it was approved by federal District Judge Richard Leon.