Downsized in ATL

A few weeks ago the team i work with was told that Bellsouth was downsizing... "to stay competive" is the catch phrase of this lay off.... and that we might be included in the group...

BellSouth to slash 1,500 managers
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/121605-bellsouth-layoffs.html
BellSouth Culls Middle Management
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=85811
BellSouth Trims 1,500 Management Jobs
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/70440
BellSouth to Slash 1,500 Management Jobs
http://dailynews.muzi.com/news/ll/english/1394324.shtml?cc=20100&ccr=
A pink slip in your stocking?
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/19/news/economy/jobs_holiday_layoffs/
google search "Bellsouth 1500 layoffs"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bellsouth+1500+layoffs&btnG=Google+Search

well this week the fourth quarter #'s are in and bellsouth made a profit... but not enough for someone... the big reason.... Hurricane Katrina...

The Atlanta-based company said it earned $618 million, or 34 cents a share, for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to a profit of $1.36 billion, or 74 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue in the quarter rose 1.9 percent to $5.24 billion, compared to $5.15 billion in the same three-month period a year ago.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was reduced by $48 million due to Hurricane Katrina-related billing credits, and the company estimated that 60,000 access lines were disconnected in the affected area. BellSouth had estimated in September that the future cost to restore its network would be about $400 million to $600 million. The company said Wednesday that it now expects the cost to total $700 million to $900 million. It only expects about $250 million of that cost to be covered by insurance.

BellSouth Fourth-Quarter Profit Plummets
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060125/earns_bellsouth.html?.v=9
BellSouth Fourth-Quarter Profit Plummets
link here:
BellSouth Profits Head South
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11129020/
google search "bellsouth quarter loss"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bellsouth+quarter+loss&btnG=Google+Search

today my group was informed about which groups of managers were going to get cut
4 different pay levels... volunteers then forced layoffs if they dont get enough people to take the volunteer package....
14 from the big guys...
8 from the group below them
8 from the group below them
0 from my group...

but there is one condition.. all temp managers will be let go... no voluntary severance packages... no volunteers... all...everyone...

so of the 1500 layoffs that were said
"Most of the reductions are expected to occur through the acceptance of voluntary severance packages" (ref)
this really doesnt sound like its true

hummm... so basicly i lost my job because of Katrina... and its cheeper to get rid of "temp managers" because there is no severance packages for us...

i moved here to Atlanta in Aug. 04 from Asheville NC for this job... the whole time being promised that a permantant job was right around the corner..
Why Bellsouth in Atl?...
Because I was working for a call center doing bellsouth DSL tech support and training new DSL tech support agents... and my "bellsouth" job there was outsourced to the phillipines and India... but you probally know that if you have bellsough DSL and called techsupport in the past year and a half...

So in the past 3.5 years i have been outsourced in Asheville and downsized in Atlanta by the same company...Bellsouth...