AT&T to close 250 stores, cut thousands of jobs

(Image credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

published 16 June 2020

AT&T on Tuesday said it plans on cutting thousands of jobs, affecting managers, executives, technicians, retail workers, and clerical staff.

The company is also going to shutter 250 AT&T and Cricket Wireless stores. In a statement to Axios, AT&T confirmed that thousands of jobs will be cut, but would not give an exact number, only saying there will be "targeted, but sizable reductions in our workforce."

AT&T said the store closures had been in the works, but are happening sooner than expected because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some company employees are represented by the Communication Workers of America, and Chris Shelton, the organization's president, decried the job cuts. "If we are in a war to keep our economy going during this crisis, why is AT&T dismissing the troops?" he said in a statement.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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