At&T; To Furlough 800 Managerial Workers

AT&T will lay off 800 managerial employees in a division that designs long-distance programs for business customers, a spokesman said Thursday.

The layoffs will occur this summer at the business markets division, which employs about 16,700 people. The majority of the layoffs will be in New Jersey where the division has its headquarters in Bernards Township.

“While we are de-emphasizing behind-the-scenes work, we are increasing customer services,” said spokesman Burke Stinson. “This is an example of phasing out assignments we don’t think are essential to our future.”

The layoffs are the latest in AT&T’s reorganizing that began in January 1996 with the announcement it was eliminating 17,000 positions over a three-year period.

So far, AT&T has trimmed about 8,500 jobs, Stinson said.