AT&T Cuts 12,000 Jobs

Yikes, this cardboard box sure is getting crowded.

Your blogger-on-the-street just heard from the former AIG CEO who's sharing the three-ply GE Appliance box across the alleyway that AT&T announced 12,000 job cuts today. By laying off 4% of its workforce, AT&T hopes to adapt to both the wretched marketplace and a "changing business mix" that has deeply affected its landline service revenue.

Along with a reduction in capital expenditure (and jobs), AT&T will be shifting its priority to wireless services, which should see the job cuts offset by a new round of hiring in those areas as well as internet and video services.

All this follows a 4,600-person management cut and the announcement of a general employee reduction of 10,000 over three years. It also follows the quarter that saw AT&T gain the largest number of monthly phone subscriptions in its history - at the expense of profit. Such are the woes of those who subsidize the iPhone...

AT&T slashes 12,000 jobs, shifts to wireless [Electronista]