Sprint's new CEO to slash several thousand more jobs this year?

While we wait impatiently for a WiMAX implementation in our hometown, Sprint employees have something a bit more serious on their minds: more layoffs. Though 5,000 jobs were cut from the company's 60k strong workforce last year, there's a new sheriff in town, and he seems to think that more fat can be culled from the struggling wireless company. Brand new CEO Dan Hesse purportedly is trying to show a tough face to investors, and is rumored to have "several thousand" layoffs in the works. There's also word of a move by Sprint to consolidate company headquarters to better integrate Sprint and Nextel, and it appears the future of WiMAX is still a bit uncertain, since some investors aren't entirely thrilled by the $5 billion outlay required to build the network. It's not easy being number three.

[aoeu00 @ Jan 14th 2008 4:31PM]

Doesn't that always seem to be the "new guy"'s absolute 1st move? It never fails..

They usually start off with a "reassuring" speech to the company. I'd say more but you'd probably get more info from Dilbert slides.

[Todd @ Jan 14th 2008 4:48PM]

Yeah, but with all the millions of college kids using WiMAX enabled Mac laptops, which debut tomorrow moring, they make that network investment back! :P

[Heffer @ Jan 14th 2008 6:28PM]

Do mergers ever work? Sprint/Nextel, HP/Compaq, Time Warner/AOL, etc...

[Luigi Soprano @ Jan 14th 2008 5:12PM]

I don't know much about Nextel, but I don't see a single reason why Sprint is holding onto Nextel this badly. Is Nextel that good of an investment? Are there enough Nextel consumers for Sprint to continue its support for it? As far as I know, people want more tech'y phones that have slide out QWERTY keypads, touchscreens and such but not some rugged push-to-talk cell phones that are so 5 years ago.

In my opinion, if you haven't figured it out yet, I think they should just behead Nextel and focus on getting some of Verizon's market share and therefore go on with the future of WiMAX. If anyone else thinks that Nextel should say, please reply.

[av8or @ Jan 14th 2008 9:12PM]

not everyone wants qwerty pads, or smartphones
most folks want/need a phone that makes good calls and decent battery life
thats why most phones are in one of three tiers, basic, mid-level, and hi-end phones
I will admit that while in the past, sprint had the best phone selections, they have fallen woefully behind the game in that regard, but then they don't mercilessly feature-lock their phones and force a specific interface structure like verizon does

[Luigi Soprano @ Jan 14th 2008 5:14PM]

*Nextel should "stay"

[Luigi Soprano @ Jan 14th 2008 5:24PM]

I do have some hope in this dude since the last CEO stank. I think if he gets rid of those slo-mo customer rep's, gets some exclusive phones under the Sprint belt, there's much hope for the company in the future.

[SoundScape @ Jan 14th 2008 7:12PM]

Sprint should die.

[av8or @ Jan 14th 2008 9:05PM]

and what exactly do you base this particular statement on?

[Kumar @ Jan 14th 2008 8:06PM]

No doubt the first cuts will be in customer service agents, which are already ridiculously understaffed.

[donb @ Jan 14th 2008 9:37PM]

My experience with Sprint has been great. I've had a cell phone ever since they were the size of a loaf of bread. Sprint has had a few ups and downs but I've always been treated very well by them. Especially after 7+ years - I can't remember the time I had to pay for a phone. Customer RETENTION (not cust service) will really take care of you if you are a decent customer - I currently have a great deal on my plan and phone, special to keep me on as a loyal customer. Honestly, no company has treated me as good as Sprint has. As for reception I've heard Verizon is good but who else can compare to Sprint? I have friends in NYC that curse AT&T and switching from Verizon. TMOBILE is a running joke for dropped calls and billing. I've been all over the country and never had any issues with SPRINT. I think Sprint has a bad reputation for reasons this customer of 8+ years just can't figure out. The one thing very LACKING is phone choice! They do need to get with this. More berry's , IPHONE would be a great start and I hope they are in on this googlephone!

[shabatski @ Jan 18th 2008 2:05PM]

Between myself and family, we've been loyal Sprint customers since the beginning of time (i.e. bag phones). We've also had run-ins with customer service and I have threatened to leave only to be passed through 3 different agents to finally get a big reduction in $$. If you can deal with that, they have the best value, and compared to my company Verizon phone and co-worker's iPhones, the best coverage in the country.

[kofarris @ Jan 19th 2008 5:06AM]

I've been a long-time Sprint customer, and concur that their major city coverage throughout the domestic US is very good. I travel for a living, and never have trouble with finding signal or making a decent call. Having said that, their handset selection is weak compared to ATT & Verizon. I bought a new HTC Touch a few months back, but can't say I'm blown away by it.

Regarding Nextel, I'm told by a former Sprint employee that the Nextel value proposition to Sprint was built around two things:

1) Nextel held a large percentage of the WiMax spectrum licensing that they're banking their data network future on, and

2) The large number of commercial accounts that used the iDen push-to-talk functionality. Apparently, they're a very lucrative customer segment vs. us high-maintenance and fickle consumers.

[Frank @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:29PM]

Sprint Idiots! No Disrespect to the workers, the backbone of any company...

Sure Lay off employee, that will help moral and reflect good on the company...yeah, right!

Instead of lay-offs, they should have them work on the wi-max project...try to absorb them as much as possible...instead of hiring new people...no wait...just lay off older employees with experience ...and hire new people at half the cost and retrain them...

Sprint Corporate Idiots!!!

[Monica @ Jan 19th 2008 1:33PM]

Everyone hates the BIG BAD CELL PHONE CARRIERS. I have the secret to being a happy wireless customer no matter your carrier.

1. MAKE AN INVESTMENT: Get the upper hand by taking the huge discount and pay bottom dollar for a heavily discounted highend phone/pda and take good care of it. Then if your carrier ticks you off and you REALLY want to leave you can always EBAY the phone and pay your ETF. You win!

2. BE PATIENT: Don't call customer service. Email CSRs through the companies website (contact us). They're well informed and don't BS you cause they actually know the answers or have time to find them before they email you back. Honestly, I've gotten responses within and hour, 24 at the most. If you don't like what they say (you wil most times) just hit reply and start a dialouge.

This way you don't feel like a victimized when your crappy cheap phone dies and you have to jump through life-dedicating hoops to get another at an affordable price. And you get quick reliable answers to your telecommunications questions. What more you want from your cell phone company?


Must disclose: I've been a Sprint customer since forever, through the swiss cheese network and the 1 hour+ customer service waits/hang ups. And I even worked for them for a brief time.