AT&T promised to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States and was able a least get 3,000 of them back by the end of 2008.
An AT&T news release states “The company has met its goal of bringing back on shore and in-house more than 3,000 jobs that previously had been outsourced by BellSouth outside the U.S., and it met its goal of completing this repatriation before the end of 2008.”
The bulk of thejobs are now located in broadband support centers in North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky, with most of the others scattered across states in the Southeast.
AT&T is more than halfway toward its goal of bringing back another 2,000 outsourced jobs to locations in the former SBC territory; states where these jobs have been located include Indiana, Texas, Nevada, Michigan and Arkansas. Most of the jobs provide support for wired broadband customers.
“We expect to complete this ambitious 5,000 job in-sourcing initiative by this summer, less than three years after the program was announced,” said Bill Blase, senior executive vice president of Human Resources. “These are good jobs with good wages and benefits, and we are delighted to have them back in-house and on shore.
“We applaud our union partners in the Communications Workers of America who worked with us to create competitive cost structures that allow us to meet the demands of this competitive market while still providing good domestic jobs.”
Even in the current difficult economy, the company continues to add jobs in parts of the business that are growing, such as wireless, video and broadband.