Is AT&T In Financial Trouble? Here's Why The Telecoms Company Is Telling Its Managers To 'Move On'

AT&T is pushing ahead with sweeping structural changes that could see hundreds of managers lose their jobs unless they agree to move across the country, as part of a broader effort to slash costs by around £2.4 billion (approximately $3 billion).

The telecoms giant is consolidating 22 internal help-desk sites into just six across the United States. Affected managers have two weeks to either accept the relocation or exit the company with severance. The decision follows a blunt memo from CEO John Stankey and an internal survey showing falling employee engagement.

Why Managers Are Being Told to 'Move On'

AT&T is centralising its employee support operations to locations in Atlanta, Mesa (Arizona), Miami, Orlando, Richardson (Texas), and Tulsa. Managers are expected to cover their own moving costs if they accept the relocation offer. Those unwilling or unable to move will be made redundant, unless they are unionised, in which case they may be reassigned.

The company has confirmed the changes but insists they are not directly linked to the recent employee survey or Stankey's memo. However, managers told Business Insider that the timeline for the help-desk consolidation has been moved up since the CEO's announcement. The move is consistent with a strategy AT&T has followed since 2023: shut smaller offices, cut legacy costs, and concentrate staff in fewer locations.

This policy has already resulted in significant internal changes. In 2023, AT&T reduced 300 US office locations to just nine major hubs, affecting around 60,000 managers. Of those ordered to move, approximately 9,000 faced tough decisions, and many left the company.

A Widespread Restructuring Effort

The latest relocation orders are just one element of AT&T's internal overhaul. One division alone (AT&T Technology Services, or ATS) saw half its managers leave rather than move during a previous wave of restructuring. ATS had around 10,000 US-based employees in 2023 and was directed to consolidate from 95 'non-strategic' locations to a handful of metropolitan areas.

This is aimed at reducing costs linked to physical infrastructure and staffing. As CTO Jeremy Legg explained at a recent tech conference, fewer sites mean fewer hardware requirements and lower operational expenses. For example, reducing central office locations from 100 to 30 or 40 can significantly cut overhead costs.

Company figures show that AT&T has already reduced its workforce by nearly 20,000 since the start of 2023, falling from over 160,000 employees to roughly 141,000. This brings it closer in line with competitors like Verizon and T-Mobile, who had 99,000 and 70,000 employees respectively at the start of 2025.

The Role of AI and Shifting Workplace Expectations

AI is also playing a growing role in how AT&T manages support services and back-end operations. Legg confirmed that AT&T has begun loading customer service issues into generative AI tools capable of recommending and even writing code-based solutions. The aim is to reduce the need for manual input, with human oversight still in place for now.

Stankey has previously stated that AI and related automation will help the company reach its target of £2.4 billion (approximately $3 billion) in cost reductions.

The recent shift in workplace expectations forms part of a larger cultural transformation within the company. The return-to-office policy now requires many employees to be in the office five days a week. This, along with relocation orders, has led some teams to shrink by half.

Conclusion: Is AT&T in Financial Trouble?

AT&T is not signalling financial distress in the traditional sense; its market performance has strengthened in 2025 and AT&T shares have risen roughly 27% in 2025. However, the aggressive push to consolidate offices, cut staff, and automate services points to a company under pressure to reshape itself rapidly.

The company's leadership appears committed to a leaner, centralised model, even at the cost of staff turnover and internal morale. Managers are being told, quite clearly: relocate or move on.