New T-Mobile Hire is Another Reminder of Jobs at Risk in Proposed Merger with Sprint

T-Mobile has hired former CenturyLink executive Sunit Patel to help oversee its proposed merger with Sprint – another disturbing indication that the merger would result in the layoffs of thousands of current employees from the two companies.
 
CWA represents more than 11,000 workers at CenturyLink. Patel helped oversee the company's merger with Level 3. After that merger, CenturyLink laid off 1,000 employees, with a company spokesperson admitting that "the combination of two large companies...creates redundant positions that must be addressed to remain competitive."
 
Recent analysis from CWA finds that the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, which Patel would help oversee as T-Mobile's new Executive Vice President for Merger and Integration, would result in the loss of more than 28,000 jobs across the country.

"T-Mobile's hiring of Sunit Patel to oversee its proposed merger with Sprint should be a giant warning sign for anyone who cares about the merger's potential effects on American jobs," said CWA District 7 Vice President Brenda Roberts. "In addition to the detailed analysis showing why more than 28,000 current jobs are at risk if the merger goes through, we can add 1,000 personal stories of CenturyLink employees who have first-hand accounts of why Sunit Patel's hire undercuts the unsubstantiated claims by the companies about what the merger would mean for their current employees."
 
Patel's tenure as CFO at CenturyLink also coincided with the company's 2017 decision to cancel its traditional Christmas bonus and its January 2018 announcement that it was suspending merit raises – all at a time when top company executives took home millions in bonuses, including a $1.3 million retention bonus issued to Patel as a result of the merger.