Comcast said new tax bill would create thousands of jobs, ended up quietly firing 500...

[William Gayde]

Comcast lobbied heavily for the recent tax bill, claiming it would allow them to create thousands of new jobs. Despite that, they ended up firing more than 500 door-to-door salespeople about two weeks before Christmas. These employees were responsible for walking neighborhoods and interacting directly with potential new customers. Comcast attempted to perform the layoffs silently and even went as far as to make the former employees sign non-disclosure agreements as part of their severance package.

This has only been brought to light after an unidentified employee from Florida contacted The Philadelphia Inquirer to describe what happened. In addition to the direct salespeople, hundreds of managers and supervisors were also let go. They were all told this was part of a larger reorganization effort for their direct sales force. When Comcast was finally forced to acknowledge the layoffs, spokesperson Jennifer Moyer released a statement which reads:

The Central Division is creating a new territory-based sales model that will connect more closely with residential prospects and customers in their communities. By giving highly trained sales professionals direct responsibility for entire neighborhoods, we can provide a better experience for those who are interested in our services, during and after the sale.

In December, Comcast announced they would be giving a $1,000 bonus to all full-time employees in celebration of the Republican-crafted tax bill. The recently fired employees will retain several months of health insurance and will also be eligible for this bonus. Comcast went on to release a follow-up statement to Ars Technica which reads:

Periodically, we reorganize groups of employees and adjust our sales tactics and talent. This change in the Central Division is an example of this practice and occurred in the context of our adding hundreds of frontline and sales employees. All these employees were offered generous severance and an opportunity to apply for other jobs at Comcast.

Following the tax bill, Comcast announced they planned to invest $50 billion into new infrastructure over the next five years. Despite the previous net neutrality rules they claimed were burdensome and hindered their growth, Comcast was already investing at a rate very similar to this.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/72617-comcast-new-tax-bill-would-create-thousands-jobs.html

 

[Evernessince]

This isn't surprising. AT&T promised workers a large bonus and we've yet to hear anything on that. What has happened is they have laid off a large amount of workers and hired a bunch of non-union contractors to do the same job for less. Hey, you don't have to give bonuses to fired employees and contractors. Yay trickle down economics!

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...promising-more-investment-because-of-tax-cut/

 

[wiyosaya]

All Heil Trump and the republicans! And praise the scum companies!

 

[penn919]

This isn't surprising. AT&T promised workers a large bonus and we've yet to hear anything on that. What has happened is they have laid off a large amount of workers and hired a bunch of non-union contractors to do the same job for less. Hey, you don't have to give bonuses to fired employees and contractors. Yay trickle down economics!

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...promising-more-investment-because-of-tax-cut/

Sounds like it was a publicity stunt from the get-go. Employers will only hire and pay the absolute minimum they have to. Any surplus will be pocketed or distributed to the shareholders...or both.

 

[Evernessince]

Sounds like it was a publicity stunt from the get-go. Employers will only hire and pay the absolute minimum they have to. Any surplus will be pocketed or distributed to the shareholders...or both.

Exactly. I don't think many people know much about how our tax system works (which hasn't changed after the recent tax cuts) but business hire more people when they have incentives to do so. One of those incentives (and a big one at that) was that you could deduct employee wages from your business's taxes, meaning you are essentially paying little to nothing for that employee. Most big companies were able to reduce their effective tax rate to around 9% and after the recent tax cuts, given that there isn't an effective minimum tax for companies, that number is likely down to 0%.

 

[Brock Kane]

Yeah, they'll fire a bunch and raise your bill a bunch at the same time! It's the Comcast way!

 

[Mirob]

I don't like people comming to my door to sell me something I don't want anyway. Get a real job!

 

[captaincranky]

Well, how many doors do you have to knock on to make one sale? I suppose it's a great hobby for someone who doesn't have much in the way of overhead, but as a corporate sponsored welfare check, Comcast, (believe it or not), is a benefactor.

If you think about it, there are only so many people in the USA. Cable and ISP contracts have to be nearing market saturation. With that in mind, there is a inverse sign up ratio in play. In simple terms, the more people you ask, the more people refuse your offer.

That, along with "road block advertising" on all the major OTA networks, makes it unlikely that anyone above the age of six, doesn't know these cable and ISP services are available already.

Comcast salesmen hit me from time to time. I turn them away by asking, "did you know Comcast is the most hated company in America"? That usually stops them in their tracks, mumbling impotent denials.

Here in PA we have "freedom of choice", with respect to who we purchase our raw electricity from. Now those company's salesmen, are the worst pains in the a** on the planet. They bang on your door, badmouthing the local utility as, "the bogeyman", with great promises of a "fixed rate", which is more often than not, higher than your utilities current , or future expected rates. Then they have the ballz, to tell you they're doing you a favor, and ask you to "bring out your electric bill so they can go over it with you".

Over Christmas, Comcast had their salesmen inside the entrance of my local Walmart. IMHO, being attacked by said sellers of snake oil while trying to buy a couple boxes of cat litter, was an imposition I'm not likely to ever forgive or forget.

 

[tipstir]

Nothing changed GAS at the pumps is high:

Regular Unleaded Ethanol 10%
$2.35

Regular Unleaded Ethanol Free
$3.15

Why in the world do we have both today?Without Ethanol don't you think that would be cheaper to make?
Better gas mileage with Free one than the 10% one but at cost though.

Gallon Whole Cows Milk did drop from $3.59 to $2.35 after the cut. So there is are savings.
You can buy 2L of Soda for $1 dollar, You can get tiny pies at 50 cents each. Also tiny cakes for 50 cents each. In a dollar store everything is $1. Dead Animal Meats are still higher than ever. Butter has shot up as well. Cooking oil as well. Laundry Detergent over $10 bucks and the pods are just as expensive. You could make your own using just Dawn or better yet go with Great Value Clone Dawn save more. Wash your clothes Dawn you know even with HE just use 1 Tsp for each load (small). 3 Tsp for large. I tried this works. Dawn gets oil out of anything you had it on pre-treat first. I make my own carpet shampoo also. Cost of things are still high I don't think any capital gains tax on Corporations will ever be passed onto us who pay taxes from our checks. But wait Feb 2018 we're suppose to see those cuts in so the pay check is suppose to be larger.

 

[JimboLovey]

Upon reflection of the last decade I come to the realization that comcast is the most greedy of all tech companies. Bar none. Also from review's the most complained about.

 

[psycros]

I won't shed a tear over a door-to-door salesman getting the axe. Its a profession whose time has long since passed and 99% of cold sales calls are scams. Most of these clowns don't even have a business license for the areas they canvas.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Nothing changed GAS at the pumps is high:

Regular Unleaded Ethanol 10%
$2.35

Regular Unleaded Ethanol Free
$3.15

Why in the world do we have both today?Without Ethanol don't you think that would be cheaper to make?
Better gas mileage with Free one than the 10% one but at cost though.

Gallon Whole Cows Milk did drop from $3.59 to $2.35 after the cut. So there is are savings.
You can buy 2L of Soda for $1 dollar, You can get tiny pies at 50 cents each. Also tiny cakes for 50 cents each. In a dollar store everything is $1. Dead Animal Meats are still higher than ever. Butter has shot up as well. Cooking oil as well. Laundry Detergent over $10 bucks and the pods are just as expensive. You could make your own using just Dawn or better yet go with Great Value Clone Dawn save more. Wash your clothes Dawn you know even with HE just use 1 Tsp for each load (small). 3 Tsp for large. I tried this works. Dawn gets oil out of anything you had it on pre-treat first. I make my own carpet shampoo also. Cost of things are still high I don't think any capital gains tax on Corporations will ever be passed onto us who pay taxes from our checks. But wait Feb 2018 we're suppose to see those cuts in so the pay check is suppose to be larger.

I was under the impression prices always go up in the first 4 months of the year, and stay that way through most of the summer.

 

[Danny101]

They were likely planning to fire them anyway without regard to what the tax law will be. Businesses reorganize all the time. That 500 may be replaced in another sector of the company. As sales become more on-line and automated, the need for personnel will become less over time.

 

[HyPeroxya]

They were likely planning to fire them anyway without regard to what the tax law will be. Businesses reorganize all the time. That 500 may be replaced in another sector of the company. As sales become more on-line and automated, the need for personnel will become less over time.

fire the senior staff who accrued holidays pensions sick leave , take on new staff with lower rates less holiday unpaid sick leave and worse pensions. Maybe they live in india, vietnam Laos , as long as they can sell over the phone ....

 

[tipstir]

I was under the impression prices always go up in the first 4 months of the year, and stay that way through most of the summer.

Since then price I had paid on late Saturday night was $2.32 a gallon. A gallon a milk was unchanged. I have to hunt for lower price for gas. So far where I go seems to be the only place that's so cheap. I live where the price is $2.69, $2.84 a gallon of unleaded regular. I have to drive over the county-line...for $2.39, $2.35, $2.32 lowest one....

 

[GeforcerFX]

Since then price I had paid on late Saturday night was $2.32 a gallon. A gallon a milk was unchanged. I have to hunt for lower price for gas. So far where I go seems to be the only place that's so cheap. I live where the price is $2.69, $2.84 a gallon of unleaded regular. I have to drive over the county-line...for $2.39, $2.35, $2.32 lowest one....

how much do you actually save if you have to drive to get your gas? My grandpa was like that, always hunting for the place that was like 5 cents cheaper than somewhere else, prob waste thousands of gallons of gas in his life doing that.

 

[tipstir]

how much do you actually save if you have to drive to get your gas? My grandpa was like that, always hunting for the place that was like 5 cents cheaper than somewhere else, prob waste thousands of gallons of gas in his life doing that.

I live near the county line not that far compare to driving to work which is really farther in my county. Gas up there was cheap. Local city taxes increased up there. Where I go for some strange reason is the cheapest. I have a range limit to travel though. I am saving over 52 cents a gallon compare to my area $2.84 vs $2.32 cost me $24.99 to fill. I am about saving fuel cost. I drive 48 miles to work round trip each day. Tires a filled 35 psi.