Joan Cros Garcia-Corbis/Getty Images
About 60,000 AT&T managers are being told to return to the office by September.
However, the mandate says workers must return to just nine locations, leaving an estimated 9,000 employees with the decision to quit or relocate.
One manager described the change as layoffs disguised as RTO policy.
AT&T wants 60,000 managers to get back to work in person, but at just nine office locations around the country, leaving thousands of workers with the choice to either relocate or find a new job.
Bloomberg reported that the telecom giant is mandating a return to offices starting in September after three years of many employees working remotely. Although the company has 350 offices around the country, CEO John Stankey wants workers to report to one of just nine location. Managers will have to choose between Los Angeles; San Ramon, CA; Seattle; St. Louis; Washington; Middletown, NJ, and Bedminster, NJ.
While most affected employees live near one of the nine locations, 15% of managers —roughly 9,000 employees—will have to decide whether to stick with a long commute, relocate, or leave AT&T.
A manager at the company speaking with Bloomberg described the plan as “a layoff wolf in return-to-office sheep’s clothing.”
The changes are set to take effect in July for Dallas and Atlanta offices, and the rest of the assignments will begin by September 4.
“If they want to be a part of building a great culture and environment they’ll come along on these adjustments and changes,”Stankey told Bloomberg. “Others may decide, given the station of life they are in, that they want to move in a different direction.”
In his interview on Bloomberg Radio, Stankey said employees were offered “generous” relocation services. The move comes during AT&T’s path to cutting $6 billion in costs, and Stankey said he expects the company will “probably be down 15,000 employees from last year to this year, when its all said and done.”
Representatives for AT&T did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
“We’ve been reconfiguring our workforce for a very long time,” Stankey told Bloomberg.