Benefits December 24, 2003

AT&T Places Management Salaries on Hold

December 24, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Looking to reduce its cost structure, AT&T Corp. will freeze management salaries until April 2005.
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The move by the telecommunication company will impact AT&T’s 43,000 non-union employees, who were scheduled to receive merit increase this coming April. The salary freeze though will not impact management bonuses, which will still be paid out to management employees in March, according to a Dow Jones report.

AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Dorman told employees about the decision via an e-mail last week. The latest move represent the second such merit increase postponement this year – a similar measure was undertaken last April, pushing raises back to September – and keeps management increases on an 18-month cycle.

“By April 2005, business conditions permitting, we expect to resume merit increases on an annual basis, once again tying them to the yearly performance review cycle,” Dorman said in the e-mail.

An AT&T spokeswoman was unable to provide Dow Jones with an estimated savings the company will reap from the move.

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