AT&T says it can't find skilled workers
Posted
Mar 27 2008, 03:58 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
AT&T pledged in 2006 to bring back 5,000 customer service jobs to the U.S. from India, eliminating its low-wage foreign call centers. But CEO Randall Stephenson said this week he can't find enough skilled workers to fill the jobs.
"We're having trouble finding the numbers that we need with the skills that are required to do these jobs," Stephenson told a business group in San Antonio. So far, only 1,400 jobs have been successfully brought back here.
Stephenson gave an especially candid speech, deploring the fact that the high school dropout rate is as high as 50% in some cities.
"If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn't put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down," he said. Ouch. He added that his company can do work in Bangalore, India, just as easily as it could in the U.S.
"I know you don't like hearing that, but that's the way it is," he said.
Perhaps Stephenson should consider this: AT&T is only paying a $30,000 annual salary for those jobs. Raise the salary, and you might just find those skilled workers.
AT&T shares slid less than 1% today to close at $37.64.
Update: I found 16 customer service openings on AT&T's Web site today. They are located across the country, in cities like El Paso, Tex.; Goldsboro, N.C.; Louisville, Ky; Metairie, La; Orange Park, Fla. and Winston Salem, N.C. A $30,000 salary will go farther in those cities than in New York City, as one commenter astutely noted.
