T-Mobile USA has announced another round of job cuts, with 900 employees leaving the Seattle-based company.
The decision follows a period of strategic reassessment after the company’s proposed $39 billion merger with AT&T failed last year. T-Mobile says the restructuring “will enable us to react with greater speed and effectiveness to customer and market opportunities,” and better position the company to return to growth.
T-Mobile is the only one of the four major U.S. mobile carriers that, at that time, did not offer the iPhone. The resulting customer losses to competitors such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel likely contributed to the need for a strategic course correction.
First-quarter results for 2012 revealed that T-Mobile lost 510,000 contract customers, underscoring pressure on the carrier’s subscriber base and revenue.
T-Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, stated the layoffs are part of a plan to “restructure the organization and optimize operations so that we can make critical decisions better in response to market and customer demands.” The company is prioritizing faster decision-making and operational efficiency as it adapts to shifting market conditions.
In March, approximately 1,900 workers were informed they would be let go as part of a previous reorganization, and seven call centers across the United States were closed. The latest reduction of 900 positions follows that earlier round.
Despite the layoffs, T-Mobile plans to hire about 550 people by the end of the year and is encouraging affected employees to apply for openings that match their qualifications. Most of the new positions will be based in the Puget Sound area.
After accounting for the new hires, the company expects a net reduction of roughly 350 jobs. While smaller than the headline number, this net loss still represents a notable setback in what has been a challenging year for the carrier.
A recent study by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) placed T-Mobile at the bottom of customer satisfaction rankings among wireless providers, tied with AT&T for low marks in perceived quality and meeting customer expectations.