A new report circulating out of the Seattle Times is likely to ire House Democrats as reports of “significant round of layoffs” is expected to happen inside T-Mobile headquarters later this week. According to the report, more than 100 people in T-Mobile’s in-house marketing and other overlapping groups will hear the news tomorrow, with T-Mobile planning “integration” meetings to share the news. Unfortunately, I can confirm this report is accurate, though I’ve heard as much as 20-30% of the marketing and other related groups staff counts could be on the chopping block.
The timing of the story will likely cause House Democrats to take more action in hopes of convincing the FCC to make a combined T-Mobile/MetroPCS to promise no job cuts. Interestingly enough, the Communication Workers of America also warned a “large number of job losses” could result from the combination of the two companies. Mind you this is the same CWA that backed the proposed takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T, a combination that likely would have led to significantly more job losses due to the sizable marketing and related departments of both companies.
Ultimately, layoffs that occur this week may help both companies avoid any rulings from the FCC that has them commit to maintaining their respective workforces post merger. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how both House Democrats and the FCC react to any job cuts coming this week.