Monday, April 21, 2008 - 2:39 PM EDT

AT&T to cut nearly 5,000 management jobs

Tampa Bay Business Journal

AT&T Inc. is cutting about 5,000 management level jobs from its payroll.

Executives with the company said the layoffs will help streamline operations after bringing several companies together over the recent years to create what is today AT&T (NYSE: T).

"Even with the reductions, we expect our headcount overall to remain stable this year as we hire additional employees to support growth areas like wireless and TV," said Walt Sharp, spokesman for AT&T, which is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Sharp noted that AT&T is a large operation with more than 300,000 employees -- 19,000 of them employed in Florida, where the firm provides Internet access, VoIP service and Centrex central-office based voice service.

"We are constantly adjusting our headcount, primarily to get more employees into our growth areas," he said.

Last year, AT&T added some 7,000 employees when the company closed its $85 billion stock-for-stock acquisition of BellSouth Corp.

"The bottom line is that we remain one of America's largest employers," Sharp said. "We are putting jobs where our customers are."

AT&T is a global communications holding company. Its stock has a 52-week trading range of $32.95-$42.97 a share.