Sprint asks under-threat employees to support redundancies

In a move which perhaps indicates the Sprint/T-Mobile team is starting to get nervous, Sprint CEO Michel Combes is rousing employee support for the very merger which could potentially make them redundant.

On Friday 5 October, Combes is inviting as many employees as possible to a special edition Town Hall which will feature John Legere and Mike Sievert, who will take over as CEO and COO of the combined company should the merger be given the go-ahead. The attendees will be able to ask questions and air their grievances, with perhaps a couple of brave souls condemning the merger due to the number of jobs it will sacrifice to the gods of profit making.

“Speaking of, it was five months ago when Sprint and T-Mobile announced our intentions to merge,” said Combes in the email, which was later filed with the SEC. “Since then, you’ve heard from me and Marcelo – along with much commentary in the media – about why this is such a good deal. Together we can build the best network across the U.S., including rural areas – and establish global leadership in 5G; offer unprecedented products and services at lower prices for consumers and businesses; and create thousands of jobs.”

How many jobs accountant Combes and his psychotic-eyed colleagues can create is questionable, though what is almost certain is redundancies. There will be cross-over when it comes to internal service departments (such as HR and IT) but the majority will most likely come from the retail side of the business, those in the field interacting with customers. In many cities across the US there will be areas which both a T-Mobile and Sprint presence; these will have to be rationalised.

But perhaps this is where Combes is playing his masterstroke. Those who can attend the meeting will be those who work at the HQ in Kansas, these people are less likely to be at risk from redundancies. Combes can have photographers and camera men capturing the happy faces at the event, while the people who are genuinely under threat can’t afford to fly out to Kansas with a weeks’ notice, or have work in the retail stores all around the country. Combes is essentially herding all the happy people together, while the ones who actually have something to object about are left in the cold, voiceless.

Perhaps Combes should be congratulated on his ability to present the concept of democracy while simultaneously silencing any objections through absence.

Maybe this is an indication the team aren’t getting the support they believe is necessary to force the hand of watchdogs approving the deal? The FCC has hit pause on the 180-day shot clock to approve the deal, not necessarily a good sign, industry groups have slammed the merger, customers offered a mixed-bag of feedback and as far as we can tell, Legere’s plea for support from the MVNOs of the US only brought about one proclamation. Asking employees for their approval is certainly risky, there is as much an opportunity for negative feedback as there is for the managers to be strong-armed into shallow, PR-riddled statements.

Despite seeing a few nerves between the lines, the team has hired an integration team, T-Mobile hired Sunit Patel to lead their merger and integration strategy while Kevin Crull leads efforts at Sprint. Vonya McCann and the Government Affairs team are working hard in the lobby front in Washington, while numerous executives from T-Mobile, Softbank and Sprint will be lending their weight to the effort.

Guessing which way the FCC is going to lean on this deal is almost 50/50 according to many of the people which we have spoken to, but with this move perhaps the mood in the merger camp isn’t as positive as some would let on.