Sprint, Verizon, AT&T job cuts – Telecom Careers Insider Episode 18

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    Telecom Careers Insider

    Sprint, Verizon, AT&T job cuts are front and center of this week’s Telecom Careers Insider, sponsored by Nexius and Telecomcareers.
    For insight on who is hiring and the life of a product manager at GE Power, check out RCRtv or listen to podcast.
    By the numbers
    Before diving into who is hiring and who is firing, check out employee numbers below:

    • Verizon
      • 177,900 employees
      • $127 billion revenue (2014)
      • 110 million wireless subs; 5.8m Fios; 1700 retail stores
    • AT&T
      • 243,620 employees
      • $132 billion revenue (2014)
      • 120 million wireless subscribers; 3.5 million business; 12 million U-verse subscribers
    • T-Mobile – 45,000 employees
    • Sprint – 33,000 employees

    Featured Company and Jobs by Telecomcareers

    Who is Firing?

    The last thirty days have been tough on mobile operator employees; however, keep in mind that announcing layoffs in the 3rd and 4th quarter has long been a telecom tradition.  Below is a recap of previously announced layoffs.

    • Sprint – Reducing expenses $2.5 billion that should not impact network; Cutting severance to 1 week for each year served.  For those with elephant-like memory, will recall that Sprint announced a $1 billion cost reduction plan back in 2003, following the telecom bust.
    • Verizon – Reducing 20 regional operations centers to 6
    • AT&T – Cutting 200 jobs in Houston credit and collections center; TX President said they are hiring 850 in Texas; hired over 4K YTD.  Sue Marek from Fierce Wireless predicts that AT&T’s move to SDN will result in more job cuts
    • On the bright side, T-Mobile announce raising $2 billion allocated for spectrum acquisition

    Who is Hiring?

    Verizon is on a roll this year in terms of product announcements. No doubt, these announcements equate to new hires in IoT related software jobs as well as network engineering and operations positions tied to fiber builds and small cell network deployments. Below is a summary of Verizon activity

    • Verizon continues its execution on Network, Cloud, Security and IoT initiatives
    • The worst kept secret in the industry is that Verizon has been buying metro and long haul fiber wherever they can, to support planned small cell network deployments.
    • At a recent HetNet Expo event, Verizon was recognized as the HetNet, small cell leader
    • Verizon announced Thingspace – IoT Connection manager
    • Launched Connected City Platform as a Service (PaaS); initial focus on smart lighting
    • Verizon IoT business has generated nearly $500 million YTD 2015
    • Check out Verizon’s State of IoT and Smart City website
    • Verizon acquired AOL to get hands on video advertising platform and then launched Go90, a video broadcast platform with 8,000 titles and 35 exclusive original series
    • Verizon signed NBA to a $400 million marketing agreement

    Additional job producing insights include:

    • Lost in the cost reduction news, Sprint announced Mobility as a Service (MaaS) targeting enterprise customers with a flat fee per employee for mobile phone use. Earlier this year, Sprint Business announced Workplace as a Service.
    • RCR Wireless News contributor and industry insider, Jim Patterson, posted a thoughtful articlecomparing Verizon to AT&T, which characterized their strategies as follows:
      • Verizon has a Mobile First, Social Entertainment platform, Go90,
      • AT&T more focused on fiber to home and SMB along with being a content channel evidenced by DirectTV acquisition.  Not mentioned in Patterson’s article was AT&T’s commitment to invest $500 million in a Chernin Group joint venture to invest in and launch online video businesses. Since the April 2014 announcement, The Chernin Group has acquired FullScreen, one of YouTube’s largest multi-channel operators (MCO) and Rooster Teeth, an Austin, TX based webTV production studio targeting Mellenials.

    Day in the Life of a Product Manager

    Finally, in this week’s Telecom Careers Insider, Joey Jackson, writer and producer for RCR Wireless News, drops in to discuss his recent visit to GE Power Management business unit located in Dallas, TX.  “I like visiting the labs the most because I get to see them tear things up” said Jackson.  Jackson produces the following programs for RCR Wireless News:

    • GIGS – a close up view on the industry’s coolest jobs
    • DIGS – who has the best place to work? check out RCR Wireless News DIGS programs
    • How it works? – From “chalk talks” at trade shows to hands on product demonstrations, RCR Wireless News keep you informed on the latest technology

    On this week’s program, we reviewed a day in the life of a product manager, featuring a product manager from GE Power Management.