Sprint trimming 14 percent of workforce pre-Pre
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jan 26th 2009 2:16PM
posted Jan 26th 2009 2:16PM
"Lean and mean" is one thing -- but Sprint's really swinging the axe at full force today, announcing that it'll eliminate some 8,000 more jobs from its arsenal of 60,000 mostly by the end of the first quarter on March 31. The move is expected to save the States' number three carrier about $1.2 billion a year in labor costs, and furthermore, the company will be suspending its retirement plan match, tuition reimbursement, and extending its salary increase suspension for another year. With any luck, the Pre will help turn Sprint's fortunes around -- but on the flipside, don't you need a healthy company to launch such a revolutionary (and likely overwhelmingly popular) device?[Via mocoNews]
Please! Palm is no fool. They know where their "GSM bread is buttered". That's why they will also launch a European GSM/HSDPA version at the same time or very soon after the Sprint CDMA launch. T-Mo and AT&T types will be able to import from sites like eXpansys. Watch!
Honestly, I have been waiting for this. In the current economic times, Sprint is going to use layoffs and cutbacks not only for the money savings, but also to show stock holders that it can handle the current market conditions. It would be a surprise to see their stock do anything but stabilize and possibly rise after this.
your avatar scares me
Sprint with the Palm Pre -- like T-Mobile with the G1 -- is basically banking the entire future of the company on one device. The Pre is a very good pick-up for Sprint, but we still don't know what they had to do to get it. The payback period for whatever payments to Palm and subsidies to subscribers could be much longer than any of us could speculate.
Um, if anyone is in a worse position to bargain than Sprint, it's Palm. I don't think the Pre is going to be as revolutionary as everyone seems to think. A new OS is a big adjustment and one that I am not really willing to make.
But as a SERO plan customer, I really am pulling for Sprint on this one.
I'm just going to go ahead and call it now. Sprint is going to completely pooch the release of the Pre and singlehandedly drive the last nail into the coffin of both Palm and Sprint.
You have a point about Sprint, but the Pre really is so awesome I can't see Palm not succeeding.
Tough times-Hesse knew it has a tough road and the economy makes it worse. I think the Pre will launch fine, but I fear that an unsure workforce and a disruptive environment at Sprint will hamper the launch to some degree-at least potentially. As long as the phone and OS are good, it will be a great thing for Sprint in the long run. Pray for good battery life and great sales Sprint faithful. Time is running out....
I recently left Sprint, and know that all my ex-coworkers are ALL trying to leave. That ship is sinking. All the talented workers that made that company great have left or are trying to leave. Why would anyone work for a company that is so obviously hurting?
Because it's the best game in town.
Sprint may not last long enough to reap the benefits of the Pre. Sprint should slash salaries and wages for everyone left by at least 20%.
Something is fishy on the math.....
$1.2 bil / 8000 = $150000/year/person. Retail workers are making $30k-$50k, so your telling me that most of corp Sprint personal are making +$250,000/year!?! And THAT math only works if they're trimming 50/50 between retail & corp!! More than likely, I'd say 60% of the cut is retail which means the adv salary of a corp Sprint employee is over $300,000/year!!!
No wonder they're in trouble.......
yea there has to be some other fee they are not including cause that's why their going broke if not.
They are also slashing 401k matching, tuition reimbursement and salary increases- so the 1.2B is not just about salary.
The 14% number sounds small, but no cuts will touch the nearly 35,000 that work in retail or call centers. So that leaves about 22,000 corporate employees to take the brunt of the 8,000+ cuts and that is before outsourcing starts. So in the end it will be closer to 40% of the corporate employees. And the $1.2B is for salary and benefits plus some magical unicorn math that I just don't get. Just wonder if they don't simplify their business how will the 8,000 to 10,000 employees left in corporate be able to run such a huge and way to complex operation.
If you're really pulling for Sprint how about getting off the Sero plan and getting on a plan that infuses them with something they desperately need? Capital? Comments in these forums often boarder on ridiculous. People gripping about the collapse of Circuit City because of lack of awesome deals at Best Buy and screaming about the virtues of Sprint's giving away the house forget the fact that I have a lot of trouble actually making a calls in a number of places in the US and especially after 7.
It's a fact of the market that consumers are going to want more for less but at some point we have to realise that there are a lot of fixed costs that can't just be overcome by the company's desire to have our business. Circuit City's deals (and other mistakes) means there is one less large inventory dealer out there. Which is kind of a shame because the value to the comsumer beyond competition is they carry different inventory than their competitors. Which granted anything in the world could be purchased over the Internet these days, five years ago it was nice to be able to go Circuit and get immediately gratified with a PMP when Best Buy was only carrying MP3 players.
With regard to Sprint their model of giving things away means they have not been able to invest in things like improving coverage and in the areas they have coverage the products they offer have suffered because they don't have the capacity to support them or customer service to support you when you're unhappy. Sprint might be well served to take a page from Wikipedia's playbook and put a donation link on it's website. Those of us who have moved to, albeit pricier, greener pastures; have realized the age old, "you get what you pay for" is true. Meanwhile those of you thumping your chests about Sprint's quality will have to come to grips with the fact that Sprint's service was great, just not great enough to pay for.
I love your comment on the Sprint Lay-off situation, sort of agree with it too. But I want to BELIVE in Sprint because I really like them as a company. I don't want them to die. Just like Motorola. The RAZR2 is wonderfull.
I hate Verizon, why hasn't ANYBODY marked them as a monopoly? They bought out Qwest Wireless (which I'm using) in the Northwest, and Alltell. They bought the wireless spectrum auctioned off in 2007 (I think) and said they weren't gunna share. Any of it! And yes they have awards for THE Best Costomer Service, THE Bet Service in America. With the most flashy phones. But that still doesn't make them ANY good! (in my eyes)
Please all who read this, buy American products, (not being discriminatory to any other poeple) Having a Playstation 3, Samsung P3, and a 2009 Nissan Altima detests to that.
Anyways here is the list...
Cars:
Ford - Ford, Lincoln, Mucury...
GM - Pontiac, GMC, Chevy...
Chrysler
Dodge
TV's:
Vizio (yea, only one) Great Quality, mind you...
Cell Phones: //GSM (developed in Europe), CDMA (used by Sprint, Verizon, Qwest, Alltell, US Cellular. Developed in America, I think. Because it's used in China, South Korea, and maybe Japan.)
//hardware//
Motorola
Reaserch In Motion (RIM) basicly, Blackberry's
Palm
Dell
Apple
HP (Hewlett-Packard)
//Software//
Apple
RIM
Palm
Google
Games:
//Hardware//
Microsoft
//Software//
Microsoft
Midway
THQ
EA
Activision-Blizard
Boungie
TheGameCompany (flOw)
Saber Interactive (Timeshift)
Insomniac Games (Resistance Fall of Man)
Too many.....!!!!!
All I'm trying to say is that if we support our American corperations now, our economy will get better faster.
If anyone would like to give me a personal reply you can at alphaspartan003@gmail dot com