T-Mobile USA is preparing to cut jobs at its headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., ahead of its planned merger with flat-rate carrier MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS), according to multiple reports.
The reports, from the Seattle Times and AllThingsD, indicated that the job cuts could hit this week. The Seattle Times said the cuts could result in more than 100 layoffs, affecting marketing and other groups.
T-Mobile declined to comment, according to the reports.
The reports come amid heightened scrutiny about the deal from MetroPCS investors. Further, a group of 62 House Democrats sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, urging that the FCC make T-Mobile promise to protect jobs as a condition of the FCC's approval of the deal. The lawmakers said they will push back against "another consolidation of two companies that leads to the reduction of American jobs."
Mergers between carriers typically result in job cuts since the newly combined carrier doesn't need two separate marketing, sales and back-office departments.
T-Mobile and MetroPCS hope to achieve $6 billion to $7 billion in post-deal "synergies." T-Mobile plans to maintain MetroPCS' brand and retail locations while merging the two companies' networks and migrating MetroPCS' customers off of CDMA and onto LTE.
MetroPCS said this week that the Department of Justice had concluded its investigation into the deal and had no issues with it. The companies still need approval from the FCC and MetroPCS shareholders, who will vote on the deal at meeting April 12.
Last year as part of a reorganization T-Mobile cut a net 350 jobs. The carrier slashed 900 positions across the company but also pledged to add 550 additional jobs "to support the needs of the business and strategic opportunities." T-Mobile has also been busy expanding its B2B unit, which it said last year would lead to around 1,000 more jobs in the coming years. T-Mobile also announced a net loss of 1,900 jobs in March 2012 to consolidate the number of its call centers around the country from 24 down to 17.
For more:
- see this Seattle Times article
- see this AllThingsD article
- see this GigaOM article
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