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Industry experts have warned that T-Mobile’s proposed merger with Sprint could result in heavy job cuts
T-Mobile employees in the US have written to Tim Hoettges, CEO of the firm’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, to seek assurances over their long-term job security after the firm’s imminent merger with Sprint.
A letter from T-Mobile Workers United, which boasts around 500 members, asked Hoettges to make "solid and verifiable" commitments that staff numbers would not be affected by the merger, according to a report by Reuters.
T-Mobile and Sprint are in the process of clearing the final regulatory hurdles in their proposed $26bn merger, with only the FCC left to give its formal endorsement.
Earlier this year, the head of America’s biggest telecoms union, Chris Shelton, warned that the proposed merger could cost 30,000 jobs.
Shelton argued that the deal would destroy American jobs, whilst enriching the foreign owned parent companies of both T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom – Germany) and Sprint (Softbank – Japan).
“Trusting Sprint and T-Mobile with American jobs is like trusting a vampire at a blood bank,” Shelton famously said.
T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom have not yet commented on the letter and are yet to make any pronouncements about job cuts. However, T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legerre previously stated that he believed the merger would create an additional 11,000 positions in the US.
Also in the news:
Sprint and Nokia ramp up 5G services in the US
FCC set to pass T-Mob/Sprint merger, as Pai gives his unofficial endorsement
