AT&T Wanted to Bring Back 5,000 Jobs to the U.S.

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You might have heard that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit blocking AT&T’s proposed T-Mobile acquisition. But even before that news broke, AT&T was trying to sweeten the deal by proposing 5,000 new jobs in the U.S.

In a statement, AT&T promised to establish 5,000 new wireless call-center jobs in the United States if the $39 billion merger with T-Mobile were to push through. The two companies currently employ a total of 25,000 contact center agents in offshore locations, but bringing back 5,000 of these “seats” to the mainland U.S. would ensure that no local call center workers will be laid off, and that new agents would be eligible for benefits under a unionized workforce.

Of course, as the turn of events would have it, the DoJ has filed an antitrust lawsuit with a federal court in Washington seeking to block the AT&T/T-Mobile deal. The DoJ says an AT&T and T-Mobile merger will “substantially lessen competition.” The FCC seems to agree with the DoJ’s findings in a statement likewise released today. With these, the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger is suddenly facing major hurdles. AT&T even stands to lose $3 billion in cash payments to T-Mobile if the deal is cancelled.

Did AT&T expect the 5,000 jobs offer to be a viable deal-sweetener for the U.S. government? Did AT&T expect the DoJ to file a lawsuit, and make an announcement the same day they announced the jobs-related offer?

AT&T faces major challenges ahead. It will take more than 5,000 new jobs to appease its critics and detractors from various stakeholder groups.