AT&T CEO: We Can’t Bring Jobs Back Because We Can’t Find Skilled Workers In The U.S.
Outsourcing (usually to the Philippines or India) is what all the cool companies are doing at the moment. Except when public perception turns against you, in which case you pledge to bring jobs that you’ve sent overseas back to home soil. That’s what AT&T wants to do, but they can’t find skilled staff to fill the 5000 jobs that they outsourced. According to AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson, it has to do with the fact that as many as 50% of Americans in high school drop out:
“If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn’t put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down.”
Ouch. That’s harsh. I don’t know much about the US education system, but if that’s true then America has a real problem if it wishes to stay competitive in the global marketplace. It could also be an excuse for AT&T not being able to bring jobs back. Who knows? I’d love to know for sure though. Any thoughts on this?
April 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm
it’s not that they can’t find skilled workers, it’s that they can’t find skilled workers willing to work for low wages.
March 6, 2009 at 6:06 pm
i work for an outsourced att center in the us, it seems thats what they meant by bringing the jobs home. bottom line, very dismal pay, horrible hours, high turnover ratio, they practically get rid of most of the employees after the state stops funding them (most workers have been in prison or are on assisted living and the company gets paid for a certain amount of time by the state, usually when the funding stops, so does the employement)