30,000 to lose jobs in Sprint, T-Mobile merger
At least 30,000 jobs are forecast to be axed if the merger of telecom giants Sprint and T-Mobile pushes through. The job cuts are for the US alone. T-Mobile and Sprint have already moved thousands of US call center jobs offshore to the Philippines and other locations, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Although Tim Hottges, CEO of T-Mobile’s parent, Deutsche Telekom, said that the merger will create new jobs and bring back some jobs from overseas, the CWA wants the commitment to be in a legally binding form. Sprint has steadily cut US employment every year since 2007 with the outsourcing of its call center work. In 2010, Sprint outsourced 6,000 positions and the management of its mobile network to Sweden-based Ericsson. The CWA said most of the job loss will be from store closures.
