AT&T cuts another 1,800 jobs as it finishes fiber-Internet buildout

Enlarge / AT&T service truck driving on a street in a residential neighborhood on May 17, 2019 in Sunnyvale, Calif. (credit: Getty Images | Andrei Stanescu)

AT&T has informed employees of plans to cut another 1,800 jobs from its wireline division, an AT&T workers’ union told Ars today.

Last week, AT&T declared more than 1,800 jobs nationwide as “surplus,” meaning they are slated to be eliminated in August or September, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) told Ars.

“They’ve been cutting their employment massively in the past year and a half or so,” with cuts affecting both union and non-union jobs, CWA Communications Director Beth Allen told Ars. Under union contracts, AT&T can declare a surplus of jobs each quarter, she said. But even by AT&T standards, last week’s surplus declaration “was a very large number,” Allen said.