AT&T CEO: We Offshore Because You're Dumb

said by hopeflicker:

...do you need to have skills to read a script?

said by jrsmooth:

So you don't need any skill at all to read a script?

said by hopeflicker:

ok, you need remedial skills then.

said by NOYB:




Which means half of the public education system product (drop outs) are disqualified. And the other half wouldn't touch such a job.

said by tomkb:

Than Mexico it is! :O

said by james:

That's a joke right?

said by NOYB:



Which means half of the public education system product (drop outs) are disqualified. And the other half wouldn't touch such a job.

said by flyingjoey:

so the fact that people in india get paid a third if not a quarter of what we get paid here, and they won't bitch an moan about horrible work conditions and that there's no need to pay health benefits or government taxes and fees for them is not a reason why they are offshoring.

Give me a F__KING BREAK!

Well maybe if he decided not to take home the millions he's getting paid, maybe those 5,000 jobs could return home.

AT&T should be renamed to AAT&T... Anti-American Telephone & Telegraph. F__K THEM!

said by T1 Rocky:

It's not the shareholders he's helping out, the stock has barely moved in 10 years. Last year the CEO of AT&T made $170 million from all that savings for not building out the fiber network and outsourcing jobs to India and all of those line items on the phone bill.

said by Skydeker :

Why are you people such racist huh...?
India is not the only counrty being outsource duh.. they outsourced in countries like Ireland, Argentina, mexico even canada.
I agree with you that those people ( AT&T Management, Lobbyists ) who benefits from outsourcing because of the cheap labors...but I can tell some of those people are good to work with because they are more dedicated they dont think that working in a call center is a dead end job..like most of americans does...

said by T1 Rocky:

Everyone is a loser when it comes to AT&T with the exception of the lobbyists and the top of the corporate ladder. Go here to see how much AT&T has spent on lobbyists over the last year »www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/cl···ear=2007 What is AT&T getting in return for those dollars? Their monopoly restored, line items on your phone bill that the govnt "requires" them collect, expansion into vertical markets and possibly an ending to net-neutrality.
If you want to hear exactly what lobbying dollars sound like, download the Ted Stevens "Internet is a Series of Tubes" speach on youtube. I absolutely guarantee you that is how a lobbyist explained net neutrality to him so that he could understand it.
The consumer loses because we pay more for broadband. The consumer loses because we don't have nearly the broadband penetration that we have already paid for. The country loses because we're falling behind all of the other countries in technology. The stock doesn't move so the stock holders aren't ahead.

The only winners I can identify are the lobbyists, they politicians they bought and AT&T management with their golden parachutes. And a handful of Indians. And to add insult to injury, he calls us stupid. HE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Forget the Indians, we're stupid for allowing corporate America to function this way.

This is why Karl keeps reporting on AT&T and why he is so pissed. After you have a front row seat for this crap for 10 years, you just can't scream loud enough.

said by flyingjoey:

so the fact that people in india get paid a third if not a quarter of what we get paid here, and they won't bitch an moan about horrible work conditions and that there's no need to pay health benefits or government taxes and fees for them is not a reason why they are offshoring.

Give me a F__KING BREAK!

said by flyingjoey:

so the fact that people in india get paid a third if not a quarter of what we get paid here, and they won't bitch an moan about horrible work conditions and that there's no need to pay health benefits or government taxes and fees for them is not a reason why they are offshoring.

said by natter:

"They do not owe anyone a damn thing. If you don't like the value you are getting, change providers."

Amen. I love it how everyone thinks they "deserve" are entitled to a job. Yet, they loooovveeeee Walmart!

said by Eatmeingreek:

The telecommunications monopolies are an excellent example of capitalism at work. Well done!

I'm going to continue to actually engage in capitalism by being as materialistic as possible, and the thought that it will annoy sour leftists like yourself to no end will only bring a smile to my lips.

said by dogma:

Business owners and shareholders risk their hard earned capital (money) for a return on investment.

said by disc:

Except when they want a bailout. Then their risk seems to be mysteriously shared with us tax payers.

said by dogma:

It's no mystery.

Let's not fool ourselves. When the mayor of New York spends $80 Million on his campaign [fact: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bloomberg ], for a job that pays $300K/year, he (and the rest of the world BTW) knows something the rest of us are in absolute denial about:

U.S. consumers are suckers and fools and get exactly what they deserve.

WE voted for these people. The people that authorize the corporate bailouts with our great grand children's taxes. We did that freely. We allowed ourselves to let TeeeVeee & advertising legitimize candidates...and the entire political system for that matter. We are given two choices...and we think we have an actual choice. Like a $5 HIV-riddled street whore, we succumb to the seduction and lay down with her because we are too lazy to think our actions through...then wonder why we don't feel so good the next morning.

I hate the fact that our tax dollars are underwriting corporate welfare...to the tune of $600 Billion in the past 10 Months alone. But TeeeVeee tells us it's "illegal immigrants" that are to blame for our woes. That it's some ghetto welfare queen that's to blame for our woes. Or some poor Iraq guy trying to protect his wife and kids from death.

And we believe it. Why? Because we want to believe it. We have to believe it. If we didn't, we would need to look into the mirror and realize our little lives are powerless...and we damn sure don't want that.

said by dogma:

So which one of you "consumers" here is willing to pay 10% - 15% more for your cell/voice service so that AT&T can pay higher, so-called living wages to their entry level employees?

Consumer spending Facts suggest none of us. We all want the cheapest products or services we can find. This allows us to have more money left over to spend on more useless consumption.

They do not owe anyone a damn thing. If you don't like the value you are getting, change providers. Or better yet, put up your own capital and start a competing business since we seem to feel sooooo strongly that consumers are willing to pay a premium for service if a company has HIGHER prices, but employs more U.S. citizens at higher wages.

Since we have all been socialized to be consumerbots, people that value materialism over everything else, please refrain from blaming companies that give us exactly what we want at the price we want to pay for how they go about doing that.

said by Joe Consumer :

I, for one, am willing to pay 10% to 15% (or even 100%) more for a premium service level. Apparently today, premium means someone who (a) answers the phone and (b) speaks english.

AT&T, IBM, Motorola, HP, just to name a few, used to deliver quality products and services, at prices much higher than we pay today. As a testament, all of my IBM keyboards and AT&T/Western Electric phones from the 1980's are still in use today.

Today, we pay a large premium for Toyota or Honda over "american" brands, because they don't break.

To suggest that the consumer isn't willing to pay more for quality (and therefore, value) is a bunch of nonsense.

As for your suggestion that critics start their own firms, that's nice, but will you offer them the same 100-year historical government subsidy the current "competitive" monopolies enjoy?

said by dogma:

Business owners and shareholders risk their hard earned capital (money) for a return on investment.

said by dogma:

So which one of you "consumers" here is willing to pay 10% - 15% more for your cell/voice service so that AT&T can pay higher, so-called living wages to their entry level

said by dogma:

So which one of you "consumers" here is willing to pay 10% - 15% more for your cell/voice service so that AT&T can pay higher, so-called living wages to their entry level employees?

said by hopeflicker:

...do you need to have skills to read a script?

"We're able to do new product engineering in Bangalore as easily as we're able to do it in Austin, Texas....I

said by GemSnake:

Bangalore isn't a country, sparky... And no support is being outsourced to Bangladesh. L2geography

said by ReVeLaTeD:

... I'm also not surprised that CWA or whatever their name is doesn't half care about the offshoring; they're in bed with AT&T and could care less about the employees really.

... Before you argue, think about it: If the union really was employee-friendly, do you honestly think offshoring would have even gone through?

said by TamaraB:

Apathy on the part of the workers! How many of them are involved in the union? How many attend union meetings? How many vote in union elections? How many demand action from their shop stewards?

said by TamaraB:

Organization is the key to the problem of out-sourcing.

If thousands of AT&T customers threatened to find another provider unless AT&T stops outsourcing jobs, the practice would end.

said by TamaraB:

Organization is the key to the problem of out-sourcing.

If thousands of AT&T customers threatened to find another provider unless AT&T stops outsourcing jobs, the practice would end. Ultimately, the consumer has the final say; but it must be an active, informed, and organized consumer.

If we want to change things, we can't look toward our government to make those changes, rather we must look to ourselves, to our fellow consumers, and yes to the unions representing the workers who's jobs are being displaced.

Take the profit out of out-sourcing, by significantly reducing the offending company's revenue, and by disrupting operations by union actions.

We can't do it individually, but together, we actually rule! If the American public were to realize this fact, and would organize, these problems would vanish overnight.

Bob

said by dsless:

I have let him speak to some of these "tech support/sales reps " and he knows more than they do. How about dumper that a 4th grader? Then reality show? Because there is not enough people smarter than a 5th grader.