Concerns about job security are mounting among Americans, and rightfully so, as layoffs are on the rise across various sectors.

Data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a layoff tracking company, reveals that employers have announced about 1.2 million job cuts this year. This figure marks a 54% increase compared to the first 11 months of the previous year.

What’s particularly alarming is that industries traditionally seen as stable, such as technology, manufacturing, and even small businesses, are among those experiencing significant reductions.

This trend has left countless employees pondering a critical question: How can I safeguard my job?

John Stankey, who joined AT&T in 1985 and has served as its CEO since July 2020, has shared insights on the criteria he considers when deciding which employees remain and which are let go.

‘We hear the phrase all the time: “Employees are your most important asset,”‘ he said at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Summit, attended by the Daily Mail. 

‘That’s deada** wrong. Only the right employee is your most important asset.’

What followed was a three-point playbook for how workers can avoid layoffs – a survival guide for anyone who wants to keep their job in the era of AI disruption, slower hiring and increased layoffs.

John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T, poses with A-lister Reese Witherspoon on a red carpet in 2016 during a product launch

Pictured: Stankey (right), talked with WSJ Leadership Institute president Alan Murray (left) about the impact of AI on jobs and his blistering August internal memo 

Here’s what Stankey said every employee must do to survive: 

Go to the office every day  

Stankey hates remote work.

Nearly a year ago, AT&T rolled out one of the toughest return-to-office mandates in the country: five days a week, no exceptions. 

The rule sparked protests from workers who grew used to eliminated commutes and in-home offices. But Stankey argued mentorship, structure and social skills – all products of in-person work – are keys to future success. 

‘We’ve got a bunch of young people working in our company who came back after the pandemic working at their parents’ dining room tables,’ he said. 

‘One of the problems in our society today is isolation. And working from home stems more isolation.’ 

He also framed the mandate as a matter of fairness. 

About 60 percent of AT&T employees work face-to-face with customers, installing fiber or fixing issues inside homes. They worked through the pandemic, and, he said, the rest of the company should show up for them.

Stankey said showing up to the office could solve one of America’s worst social problems: ‘Working from home stems more isolation.’ (Pictured: an AT&T retail store)

The top boss also said in-person work creates more fairness as thousands of his employees showed up to offices, homes and construction areas during the pandemic

‘They deserve to have people there as support,’ he said.

In August, Stankey’s blistering internal memo went viral after some employees openly said they planned to ignore the mandate in an internal survey. 

In the note, the top boss scolded those cocooned employees. 

‘If you are of the small minority that shared comments similar to, “I’ve heard this nonsense before, and I’ll ignore things until this goes away…” there might be a disconnect between you and your current professional choice,’ Stankey warned in the late-summer memo.  

And he’s not alone. 

Starbucks corporate offices, TD Bank and JPMorgan Chase have all tightened their return-to-office rules this year.

Take AI training classes, NOW!

Stankey also said he’s paying close attention to who is taking internal trainings, especially ones focused on AI.

AT&T has already launched tutorials, tests and educational programs to get its 140,000-person workforce up to speed on AI tools. 

‘Of course I pay attention,’ he said when asked if he monitors who actually took the training. 

Many AT&T employees need to be in the field for their jobs and cannot work from home

The company is spending around $22billion each year on fiber construction to stay relevant in the tech industry

‘I want to see what my employees are building. This is their next set of skills.’

Beyond the telecom company’s internal trainings, Stankey believes it is best for  employees to read as much as they can on the developing topic. 

He said he ‘forces’ himself to read a full academic paper on AI every week.  

Forget loyalty, focus on results 

AT&T is shifting toward what Stankey called a ‘market-based culture.’ That means pay, promotions and job security hinge on performance – not tenure or loyalty. 

‘You have to be really, really good,’ he said. ‘You have to earn the customer’s business every day.’

He described the employer-employee relationship as transactional and constantly up for renewal.

‘Every day, you have to earn your keep at the company,’ he said, adding that, ‘similarly, the company has to earn the right to your skills.’

That mentality is at the center of AT&T’s biggest bet. Right now, the company is spending around $22billion annually – roughly 18 percent of its revenue – on construction projects for faster home internet, more 5G internet and support for AI centers.

AT&T’s investments will bring faster home internet speeds to customers, Stankey (right) said

The rollout of new fiber comes at an existential time for the legacy company. Stankey sees competition from old players like Verizon and new-starts like Starlink

Stankey said the bet is existential. He’s trying to outpace legacy competition like Verizon and new-starts like Elon Musk’s Starlink. 

And, according to the CEO, only the most consistently productive employees will make it through that transition.

The bottom line: No one is safe 

As the US economy rebounded from the pandemic, workers had the upper hand. 

Companies couldn’t employ fast enough. New hires commanded high wages, cushy work-from-home deals and promises of long-term job security. 

Not anymore. 

Stankey said employers now face pressures they didn’t before – aggressive AI adoption, high interest rates and an unsteady labor market. Even he isn’t sure what the future holds for his own staff.

‘I’ve got a lot of employees and I sit in rooms with them, and they ask me, “What does this mean for me?”‘ he said. 

Pictured: John Stankey (right), the evocative leader of AT&T, spoke for 40 minutes at the WSJ CEO Council, an event led by president Alan Murray (left). The Daily Mail attended the conference

Stankey (pictured), the outspoken CEO, said he ‘doesn’t know’ how AI will impact his own workers, and has admitted that in face-to-face meetings. That means employees must continue to produce to stay on board, he said

‘And I have to honestly look back at them and say “I don’t know.”‘

Still, he insisted workers cannot coast. They must keep showing up to the office, keep learning and keep producing. 

That’s why he refuses to call the workforce at AT&T a ‘family.’

‘I hate to break the news to people, but there are members of my family I would not hire,’ he said.

‘I’m dead serious. There are family members I love – but they would not fit in the direction of our business.

‘Family indicates that, by some default, people belong in the company. I don’t believe markets like we’re operating in can enforce that.’