T-Mobile pledged Sprint merger would create jobs. But it’s already cut 500 in KC area
T-Mobile continues to thin the ranks of former Sprint workers in Overland Park, eliminating more than 500 positions in recent weeks.
The wireless carrier notified Kansas regulators on July 1 of plans to cut another 270 employees. That followed mid-June layoffs of 241 people working at the former headquarters of Sprint.
On June 17, T-Mobile cut more than 25 director positions. A dozen vice presidents were let go and five senior vice presidents were laid off. The cuts swept across divisions, including tax, sales, corporate communications, cyber security and finance.
On July 1, three more vice presidents were laid off, along with more than a dozen directors and 24 other management roles, according to records provided to the state.
“This is an ongoing process for T-Mobile,” a company official wrote to the Kansas Department of Commerce.
T-Mobile declined to comment on the latest reductions.
Officials previously said they were examining the entire merged company “to ensure that we focus our resources in the places where our customers need us the most.” Last month, a spokesperson said the company still planned to hire 5,000 people this year.
After a lawsuit from more than a dozen states challenged the merger, a federal judge approved the $26 billion union of Sprint and T-Mobile in February. T-Mobile officially closed on the transaction in April.
Based in suburban Seattle, T-Mobile committed to keeping a secondary headquarters in Overland Park following the merger. While most mergers result in job losses as efficiencies are realized, T-Mobile pledged theirs would create thousands of new jobs across the country.
For years, Sprint was the Kansas City metro area’s largest private employer but its ranks have diminished over time. Last year, Sprint said 6,000 employees and another 1,500 contractors worked at its Overland Park campus.
The merger with T-Mobile was controversial, as consumer advocates warned it would limit competition and jobs advocates predicted it would result in the loss of thousands of jobs. The Communication Workers of America labor union predicted the merger could cost as many as 30,000 jobs as retail stores consolidate across the country.
But the two companies argued the merger was the only way either one could compete with its larger rivals AT&T and Verizon.
Last week, T-Mobile announced it would rename downtown Kansas City’s Sprint Center as the T-Mobile Center. The company said it would make upgrades at the city-owned arena and retain naming rights on the facility through 2032, the year Sprint’s original agreement was set to expire.
