Sprint Is Laying Off Around 4000 employees! You Thoughts?

[Shogun]

I saw this posting everywhere. It actually started since last year when they laid off around 5,000 employees. Now, the new CEO, Dan Hesse, is planning to lay even more people off. The number is estimated around 4,000 employees and will probably close down 125 retail stores.

With two lay-offs rolling around, it's almost 10,000 employees and I don't know how many stores. This move, however, is expected to save the company some money. Possibly somewhere around $700 million to $800 million dollars per year.

If you remember, Sprint was giving away the SERO plan. Instead of putting in the employee's name, you get to just put in saving@sprintemi.com and you have the access and can get the SERO deal. I have one right now. ($30/month with 500 minutes, free texts and data plan). The SERO move was hoping to gain more customers, which worked. They gained more than 500,000 new subscribers in the recent quarter, but somehow lost its original 885,000 subscribers. The share continues to decrease through times. Now, it's at $8.70 per share. Keep in mind that 4 months ago, it was somewhere around $25.xx per share.

Although things are looking very dull for Sprint, they are ahead in the 4G race, with their new Xohm coming around the corner. They are hoping to gain some ground back when the Xohm arrives. (also planning to charge you with legs and arms... as many are expecting)

Sprint is probably well known in its reputation of terrible customer service. Mainly on the phone. Their phone's signals aren't the strongest, but it's reputable. Their plan is probably one of the cheapest (seeing how much I have to pay ), but they are steadily (if not dramatically) declining in number of subscribers and stockholders. Why is that?

So I'd like to hear back from you guys. What do you guys think? Is there anything that can save the company? What's holding them back? What would you have done differently if you have a say in this? AND what is your personal (or people around you) experience with them?

[via Electronista]

[Shogun]

From ChristopherTracy:

I see several reasons why Sprint is falling all over itself. All of which can be wrapped up in one phrase - "lack of focus".

I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say, they have too many issues, no apparent plan to address these issues, and they keep pressing on with 4G, all of which require substantial capital. Given the state of the American economy and its prognosis, Sprint would be wise to take this time to freeze new build plans and concentrate on other business needs - starting with its cutover to an all-IP network.

Thanks for listening.

[tariqbamadhaj]

I think Sprint is a great company in a sense that it gives the customer what they want (4G and early Nights being just 3 of them) but I do agree that their lack of focus is leading to their downfall.