keep your eye on the bouncing ball.....

http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/955721
FROM JANUARY 2002

AT&T (Quote, Chart) and consulting firm Accenture have signed a $2.6 billion outsourcing agreement designed to cut the phone company's long-distance customer care costs in half and deploy new customer relationship management technologies.
Dubbed a "co-sourcing" agreement, the five-year contract calls for AT&T and Accenture (Quote, Chart) to bring their employees together to deploy new customer service technologies built around voice recognition systems and build new consumer products.

The arrangement would also result in layoffs within the phone company. During a conference call Tuesday to discuss the contract, Betsy Bernard, AT&T Consumer president and chief executive officer, didn't give specifics on how many employees would be cut (ahead of the company's earnings results on January 30th), and stressed that the contract was about more than layoffs.

"There is a plethora of technology initiatives that this deal addresses," she said. "This is a terrific business opportunity for both companies and a positive development for consumers, employees and shareowners." She said the agreement will help AT&T dramatically increase operational efficiency and manage the business while preparing to become a tracking stock later this year.

AT&T and Accenture staff are expected to work on deploying new automated customer service products, such as VoiceXML-based applications and natural language recognition systems that build on AT&T's own research, including its "How May I Help You" voice recognition system, which features natural language interpretation.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/layoff.asp?id=548
FROM NOVEMBER 2002

AT&T Wireless has quietly cut staff and phased out projects over the past two months as the third-largest mobile-phone company in the United States tries to realign its business.
The Redmond company declined to disclose the number of employees affected by the cuts, which have occurred in small numbers throughout the United States.
"AT&T Wireless is always looking at ways to improve efficiency, working differently and streamlining things," spokeswoman Anne Marshall said. "We have been making some changes and so in some areas there have been cuts."
David Caouette, vice president of financial communications at AT&T Wireless, said there have been no across-the-board layoffs and the work force has remained fairly stable at 5,750 employees in the state and 30,000 nationwide.
In a company meeting Oct. 24, Chief Executive Officer John Zeglis told employees there was no plan for reducing head count at the company. But he said a small number of jobs might be eliminated in certain departments to more effectively manage the business.
Caouette said the company has eliminated jobs through attrition and where workloads have shifted.


http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/2169151
FROM MARCH 2003

AT&T (Quote, Chart) said it has no plans to lay off more than 3,500 employees throughout this year, disputing sources familiar with the company that said the number of pink slips could hit just under 5,000.
A spokesperson for AT&T, Sue Fleming, said the layoffs, which were announced on January 6th, are being implemented in a rolling timetable throughout the year. "Some have been notified, some will be notified," she told internetnews.com.
The job cuts, she added, are largely the result of increasing automation and new technology deployment across the telecommunications giant. As a result, customer care work historically deployed on-site is increasingly addressed with software, remotely.
The company has deployed new software and provisioning upgrades to its network that enables technicians to upgrade customers' requests for more or less services from remote locations.
The cuts represent about 5 percent of the company's 70,000 staff, Fleming said. While they are being spread to different divisions within the phone company, she said the business services division could experience a slightly higher proportion because of the new automation services.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/9266649.htm
JULY 2004

AT&T Corp. this week terminated more than 150 employees from its consumer telemarketing center in Lee's Summit.
The cuts came within days of a company declaration that it was pulling back from its traditional business of selling long-distance to residential customers to concentrate on selling to business.

Kerry Hibbs, an AT&T spokesman, confirmed that the company had laid off workers at telemarketing centers in Lee's Summit; St. Louis; Marietta, Ga.; and Honolulu.
He declined to specify the number of employees affected, saying it was company policy not to disclose layoff figures unless an entire operation is closed.

Judi Sterns, president of Communications Workers of America Local 6450, said 157 hourly workers had been terminated. The so-called “term employees” were working at AT&T under three-year agreements.
In addition to the 157 persons laid off, 60 term employees in Lee's Summit were transferred to lower-paying jobs, Sterns said. AT&T retained 30 term workers in their current positions in Lee's Summit, she said.
Some other term employees who currently are receiving disability benefits will be furloughed once they are ready to return to work, according to Sterns.

Sterns said AT&T did not offer any severance packages to the laid-off term employees other than paying them for the remainder of this week.
Sterns said the union was told that about 270 term employees were being let go at each of the St. Louis and Marietta facilities.

AT&T shifted its strategy after a regulatory ruling eliminated discounts given to long-distance companies to provide local phone service on their competitors' networks. That essentially meant AT&T could no longer compete in local service against rival companies such as SBC Communications Inc. that were once part of AT&T's operations.

AT&T decided not to fight the regulatory ruling in the courts when the Bush administration said it would not back the long-distance giant in a challenge.
In its second-quarter results issued last week, AT&T reported that profits plunged 80 percent and sales fell for the 18th consecutive quarter.

Hibbs said AT&T has not laid off salaried or permanent hourly workers as a result of deciding to focus on its business customers. However, the company's chief financial officer last week confirmed that the move would have a “significant impact” on jobs.

…AND FROM THE AT&T PUBLIC RELATIONS SITE:
August 05, 2004
New York Financial Services Firms Invest In Infrastructure; Analyst Cites "Customer-Centric" Move Toward Technology

August 04, 2004
newzealand.com Finds a New Home

August 03, 2004
Imerys Selects AT&T For $2.25 Million Networking Contract

July 29, 2004
AT&T Helps Allied Electronics Deliver To Customers

July 27, 2004
Elizabeth Arden Chooses AT&T To Integrate Communications

July 26, 2004
AT&T Foundation Donates $150,000 to Acclaimed JFK Library Foundation
AT&T in Leader Quadrant in Latest Pan-European Network Service Provider Magic Quadrant
AT&T Wins $1 Million Networking Contract From University Of Miami

July 22, 2004
AT&T Announces Second-Quarter 2004 Earnings, Company to Stop Investing in Traditional Consumer Services; Concentrate Efforts on Business Markets

July 21, 2004
AT&T Awarded $7 Million Networking Contract From Deere

July 20, 2004
AT&T Foundation Supports Education Department's "Research-to-Practice Summit" for Nation's Teachers
Health Net Inc. Signs Networking Contract with AT&T

July 19, 2004
AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in New Hampshire
AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available In Northern Kentucky

July 16, 2004
Bay Area Companies Vulnerable If Disaster Strikes
AT&T Stages Network Disaster Recovery Exercise In San Francisco Bay Area
AT&T To Fund San Francisco's First Canine Search and Rescue Teams

July 15, 2004
AT&T 'Excellent' Overall and 'Best in Class' in Global Survey of User Opinion
AT&T, Invizeon Deliver Agriculture Emergency Alert System For Georgia

July 14, 2004
Security is top concern for corporate networks, according to global survey of senior executives

July 13, 2004
K/P Corp. Signs $1.8 Million Networking Contract with AT&T

July 12, 2004
AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in 100 Major Markets

July 07, 2004
Mavent Enhances Networking Capabilities with AT&T

July 06, 2004
AT&T and McLeodUSA Reach Agreement To Provide Customer Choice and Jointly Propose Rules for Continued Competition in Residential and Business Local Phone Service
AT&T Foundation supports Smith Family's 'Learning for Life' program

July 01, 2004
AT&T Says Bellsouth's Practices Are A Barrier To Facilities-Based Competition In The Special Access Wholesale Market
AT&T To Withdraw From Public Utilities Commission of Ohio SBC Wholesale Cost Case
Pro-Monopoly Illinois Commerce Commission Decision Forces AT&T To Raise Residential Local Phone Rates as of July 2