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AT&T Lays Off Thousands After Nabbing Billions In Tax Breaks And Regulatory Favors
Back in November of 2017 AT&T promised that if it received a tax break from the Trump administration, it would invest an additional $1 billion back into its network and employees. At the time, CEO Randall Stephenson proclaimed that "every billion dollars AT&T invests is 7,000 hard-hat jobs." Not "entry-level jobs," AT&T promised, but "7,000 jobs of people putting fiber in ground, hard-hat jobs that make $70,000 to $80,000 per year."
Yeah, about that.
The Trump tax cut resulted in AT&T getting billions in immediate tax relief, and roughly $3 billion in tax savings annually, in perpetuity. Yet when it came time for AT&T to re-invest this money back into its network and employees, AT&T actually did the opposite and began laying them off in droves. Unions claim AT&T has laid off an estimated 23,000 workers worldwide since the Trump tax plan, with investors and executives unsurprisingly pocketing the savings. This week, the word came down that AT&T would be laying off thousands more as it wraps up fiber deployment:
"Leaked internal documents confirmed most of the 1,800 planned job cuts. One AT&T surplus declaration shows that more than 900 of the surplus jobs come from the company's Southeast division in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This document attributes most of the cuts to "economic" reasons and some to "technological/operational efficiency."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday June 21 2019, @03:08PM (1 child)
Investors and management like to portray themselves as "job creators". They like to explain why the government is doing them favors as "because it will create or save jobs in the area". They like to claim that tax cuts and loosening legal rules will boost profits, sure, but it will also create or save jobs.
All of it is total bullshit.
The only thing that creates or saves more than a handful of jobs is demand for products and services that require labor to create them. And the only thing that creates more jobs in the richer parts of the world is demand for products and services that require labor in those richer parts of the world to create them. Everything else is a waste of money for any company, and companies try not to do things that waste money.
All those tax incentives offered by your state or municipality? Those are the result of companies saying "We will hire people here only if you make it so we never have to pay a dime in taxes, and even give us a nice chunk of change for your trouble. And don't worry, Mr Mayor, we'll make sure to remember your willingness to work with us in the upcoming election." And Mr Mayor usually takes the deal because their only alternative is to be accused of killing jobs and being voted out of office. The most obvious example of this was when hundreds of cities across America chose to grovel at Jeff Bezos' feet for the false hope of having Amazon's second HQ in their city - look at the kinds of deals being offered.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 22 2019, @02:09PM
The real job creators have always been little people. Small businesses, small-time inventors, and entrepreneurs. In the news, we see a steady stream of startups, being bought out by the corporates. Where did these startups come from?
They were all just small town people with an idea to do something cool, or do something better, or do something cheaper, or to make something look better. They all start in an apartment, a garage, or a shed. They sell a little, and the upgrade to larger quarters, out of the home. They sell more, and maybe they rent a shop, a warehouse, whatever. And, all along the way, they are hiring.
Then, they get bought out, the corporation takes all their stock, their tools, their contacts, and their employees. Soon after, the corporation has layed off almost all of those employees.
Corporations, big business, and management has almost never "created jobs". Instead, they consume jobs.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.