T-Mobile cuts jobs at company headquarters
T-Mobile USA Bellevue, Wash. headquarters sees big layoffs just ahead of its merger with MetroPCS
Just Wednesday we heard that T-Mobile and MetroPCS were one step closer to sealing the deal on a merger between the two companies. In light of that, T-Mobile USA headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. is undergoing a big round of layoffs, reports The Seattle Times. The article cites company sources and notes that T-Mobile declined to comment. Not that it makes the news any sunnier, but employees purportedly had a heads up:
"Employees are expecting the cuts, which may affect more than 100 people in marketing and other groups, to happen Thursday, when conference rooms at the company are reserved for 'integration' meetings."
T-Mobile has taken measures over recent years to downsize its workforce, mainly through restructuring and consolidating its call centers. But that may not have been enough, as the report goes on to point out:
"Last year more than 4,200 jobs were cut, including 3,300 at call centers and a later round of 900 across the company, but the company expected to add at least that many as it built up its business sales group. Last year it employed about 36,000 people nationally and 4,800 locally."
The T-Mobile merger with MetroPCS is still being reviewed by regulators. While the U.S. Department of Justice has already approved of the merger, it will still need approval from the Federal Communications Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and, of course, MetroPCS. The three groups are slated to meet on April 12 to vote on the merger.
When the deal does finally close, it will still take a few months for things to really take off. The combined entity will be known as T-Mobile and it will reportedly focus on becoming the "uncarrier." Basically that means that the company hopes to change how smartphone owners interact with their providers. It could also affect how much people end up forking over for their monthly bill. T-Mobile will also push forward with its prepaid plans, and has already begun offering a $70 deal featuring unlimited talk, text and 4G data off contract.
