Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the layoffs will be in AT&T’s retail phone stores. The cuts will be in its wireline business.
AT&T plans to lay off about 150 employees, but the state attorney general is raising concerns about the impact on workers and customers amid a struggling economy.
The phone company blamed the cutbacks on its shrinking market share for its traditional wireline business, which AT&T says has fallen in half from its previous 100 percent in recent decades.
“While the loss of any job is regrettable, most affected employees have a guaranteed job offer in state — a rare benefit even in good economic times. Most affected wireline technicians will have the opportunity to apply for technician jobs, at their current pay, in our growing video business,” the company said in a written statement on Tuesday.
Company officials said they continue to hire in the growing parts of the business, including wireless and video positions. The company said those being laid off will have an opportunity to apply for U-verse technician jobs at their current rate of pay.
But that may not be enough, according to Blumenthal.
“I will immediately seek review and action by the Department of Public Utility Control, which has recognized AT&T’s past failures to meet service quality standards by imposing $1.1 million in fines,” he said in a separate statement. “I will also investigate and explore all of the facts and potential remedies.
“Reducing the workforce that services telephone lines in the face of existing challenges forcing overtime and other measures seems like a recipe for harming our economy, workers and consumers.”
