AT&T Cut 12,000 Jobs Today

I know a lot of companies have been cutting jobs in the wake of the recession, but wow, this has to be one of the biggest job cuts we've heard about so far. AT&T announced they would be cutting 12,000 jobs, which equates to 4% of its employees in order to save money and switch their primary focus to wireless services.

AT&T has apparently been running into some trouble because less people are using landline services these days. However, they are quick to point out some of the job cuts will be made up for by hiring new people in the areas of the company that are doing well like Internet access and cellular services.

Last quarter, AT&T experienced a great surge in phone subscribers, but a drop in its profit margin. This is thought to be blamed on the iPhone 3G, as the carrier subsidizes the phone cost greatly and relies on data use fees to make up the loss on the device itself.