As has been reported by the media today and in a press release, Sprint will be cutting a combined 8,000 jobs across the company, which also includes the 850 positions that opted for the voluntary separation severance package last year.
The move is expected to save the carrier up to $1.2 billion in expenses and costs, but the carrier will also be suspending employee 401(k) matching for the year as well as continuing the salary freeze begun late last year on top of suspending tuition reimbursement for management, as a result of the economy.
Earnings results for the fourth fiscal quarter will be released on February 19th in a conference call.
Cut CEO pay to $1/year. With the $28million saved keep 1000 workers. Repeat down the chain of executive excess.
I like the CEO. It’s middle management, those from evp level to area directors, that are clueless. I also blame lower management for being too timid to actually tell their bosses that they are full of it.
Would you tell you boss he or she is full of it? (This wouldn’t work if your self employed & would be crazy if your a business owner.)
Sprint has been dying a slow death for quite a while now. At least with the crappy economy the management there can hide behind an excuse for the demise.
Yes, I would tell the boss if he or she is full of it. I pretty often tell my bosses that some new program or policy is misguided at best, impractical, or just poorly conceived. They often will agree and then more or less say do it anyway because that’s the marching orders received. It’s their failure to give feedback up the chain that lets incompetent middle managers run a company into the ground.
I hate to burst everybodys bubble here, but I highly doubt Sprint is going under ! Worst case scenario Sprint merges with someone else(Google, Comcast) or it continues to go it alone. Case in point, how long have we been hearing all these doom & gloom commentaries about Sprint ? I’ll tell u how long, “years” ! As in many years, yet they’re still chugging along.
Sprint is still chugging along? Maybe, but just barely. The stock price is at or near an all time low, the WiMax they put everything into is being abandonded by all the major supporters it once had, and Sprint continues to lose millions of customers every quarter.
So yes, people have been predicting the demise of Sprint for quite a while, but there are many good reasons they have been predicting it. And, at some point, the doom and gloom predictions are going to come true. Well, unless Sprint can somehow turn things around. But we have seen many signs that Sprint is done, and nothing at all to indicate they can or will pull out of this.
They were already known for their terrible service, and then they made 2 fatal mistakes.
1: They spent a truckload of money to buy Nextel. Now, if they had managed to do this right, it might not have been too bad of an idea. Nextel was (and still is) using outdated IDEN technology. The network was (and is) not compatible with their CDMA network. So from a technological standpoint this was a horrible decision. But since Nextel had some of the highest paying, most loyal, business customers, it could have been a good thing from the financial point of view. So what does Sprint do? They let their horrible service drive those customers away. Now they are stuck with that outdated network, and most of the customers who came with that network are long gone.
2: They bet the farm on WiMax. Again, this could have been good if they did it right. But, in typical Sprint fashion, they screwed it up. First, they decided to go WiMax while everyone else was going LTE. And then they drop the ball marketing it- changing the name several times. And now it looks like by the time they launch it, everyone else will already have LTE launched. And yes, I know there are a couple neighborhoods in a couple cities where you can get Sprint’s WiMax right now. Big whoop. The vast majority of the nation can’t get it. And there is every indication that by the time most people can get it, they will already have better alternatives from AT&T and Verizon.
Either one of these things could be a fatal blow, but I can’t imagine Sprint surving both of them- when they were already struggling before any of this.
No argument, Sprint has definitely made some bad decisions. I dont think anyone can contest that. I also never said Sprint was in great shape. However, I think u missed the point. All I was trying to point out was, that in spite of all the bad decisions, bad customer service(which has improved lately), hemmhoraging $$, & losing customers they are still “chugging along” ! Meaning that they haven’t gone under…………As I stipulated before, I highly doubt Sprint would go belly up regardless of what transpires ! They’d be bought out or file bankruptcy before that happens ! Remember this, for better or worse, they’re still the 3rd largest wireless provider in the nation !
They can predict it all they want(Sprint’s demise) but it hasn’t happened.
Tax day hasn’t come yet either but I’m still predicting it will eventually…
I, for one, believe that Sprint will learn from its mistakes and will right the ship eventually. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, but hopefully, it will happen. If not, be prepared for Google wireless or Comcast wireless coming to a Best Buy near you ! I cannot see under any circumstances, AT&T(different technologies) or Verizon(size of the merger, feds wont allow it) merging with Sprint.
Yep, I agree, Google wireless, Microsoft wireless, Comcast wireless, or maybe Qwest wireless. Somebody will be buying Sprint out though. And the Nextel network will get it’s long overdue burial in the process.
I disagree, Nextel will be taken over(purchased) by the feds. And u can forget about Qwest buying up(merging with) Sprint. If u think Sprint is on shaky ground, take a real good look at Qwest. They’re in much deeper trouble.
No way. Qwest is profitable, Sprint is losing money. Qwest is adding customers, Sprint is losing them.
The feds may or may not purchase the IDEN network. But as a consumer offering, IDEN is done, for sure.
Qwest is profitable ??? Why do u think phil anschutz(qwest founder) dumped all of his stock and jumped ship from the company. Also, correct me if im wrong, but nachio(ex-qwest ceo) is doing time in the federal penetentiary for cooking the books. To my knowledge, Qwest is under federal investigation…….. As far as Qwest adding customers, so was WorldCom before their whole deck of cards crumbled ! Thats right, WorldCom, the same company that was going to buy out Sprint for $129 billion ! Last time I checked, Bernie Ebbers(WorldCom founder & ceo) is also doing time in the pen !
man you need to get caught up with the times. You are talking about htings that happened last millenium.
The federal investigation ended several years ago. Qwest has already been through a couple of CEO’s since Nachio. They had Dick Notebaert, who took them to profitability (the most profitable they EVER were), and they now have Ed Mueller- who is continuing the profitability.
Yes, their stock tanked during the investigation, but it has long since stabalized.
All that matters is Qwest is reporting profits every quarter, and they are adding tons of customers every quarter. And if you remember right, Qwest almost bought MCI. They lost a close bidding war to Verizon. But make no mistake, Qwest was a lot closer to buying MCI than they were to going under. And someone like Sprint makes a lot more sense for Qwest to buy than MCI.
So yeah, in short, check your recent history (Qwest almost bought MCI but Verizon outbid them) and Qwest is actually a very profitable company that is adding tons of customers. Put it this way, Qwest is the ONLY landline company in several states (the fastest growing states in the nation) and they have their new fiber optic buildout offering fiber optic service to many of these people. How could they not be successful with that?
Anyway, this isn’t really a topic about Qwest. But I just had to point out that saying Qwest and Sprint in the same sentence is a travesty. Qwest is currently ranked number 1 by JD Power for their customer service, in addition to making more money than they ever have as a company, and adding tons of customers every quarter. Sprint is the exact opposite, in every imaginable way.
Bravo……….If thats the case, then perhaps a merger wouldnt be a bad idea(if they both share the same technology) ? I knew they(Qwest) were under federal investigation back in 2002 but I thought they openned up the investigation again just last quarter due to financial irregularities reported to US Securities & Exchange Commission ? I guess we’ll soon find out.
No, Qwest is not under investigation right now. They are doing pretty well financially. As for technology, Qwest was actually reselling Sprint service up until a few months ago, just branded as Qwest. They ended that relationship though and Qwest now sells Verizon service (branded as Verizon). When that deal went down there were a bunch of rumors that Verizon was about to buy Qwest. Who knows, that still may happen someday. But if it doesn’t happen, I fully expect Qwest to make a move on Sprint. And if they do make a move, you can bet it will only be for the CDMA side of things.
Verizon Wireless is a partnership between Vodaphone and Verizon the landline company. Vodaphone is the largest wireless company of the world, and based in Europe. It is doubtful as a partnership they would pursue any venture to buy Qwest Communications which is an original baby bell company. However because of the ever decreasing need for landlines, Qwest is pursuing other avenues directed almost entirely at their internet capabilities. Hence the push to open up stimilus money for better increasing the territories that can provide internet services. Never the less Qwest is far from being out of the hot water and as of recently has continually been announcing job cuts. Within the last two months they have cut 1700 jobs and reduced their real estate agressively. Both signs of their fighting to gain stability.
Qwest has announced 1700 layoffs recently, but you have to look a little deeper to get the whole story. A lot of those jobs lost were because Qwest got rid of their wireless and started selling Verizon Wireless. Verizon handles all the support/billing/etc so Qwest got rid of the people who had previously been doing that for Qwest. Qwest was previously selling Sprint service rebranded as Qwest, but Qwest handeled all the support/billing/etc. Verizon handles all of their own under the agreement they have with them for wireless.
So that is a big part of the layoffs there. Qwest isn’t laying off any network techs, or regular sales or customer service (as far as I know).
They did also lay off a bunch of dex workers though. Dex was the Qwest yellow pages. Qwest sold that division off like 8 or 9 years ago, but they still had a bunch of Dex workers on the payroll. So Qwest finally laid them off within the last couple months.
You are correct though- they are basing the future of their business on their broadband internet (just like Verizon). Everyone knows landline business is dead.
And I don;t think Vodaphone would be interested in buying Qwest (nor would the feds allow it). But Verizon, the landline telco that has already bought up several former baby bells when they formed Verizon, would probably be interested in buying Qwest.