A Glimmer of Hope: Can the ATT and the Telecom Industry Help Create Jobs?

Check out my appearance on Fox Video News yesterday talking about AT&T and the tech and telecom job market.

One point I did not have time to mention was that spending by AT&T and other tech giants has a multiplier effect on job creation. So when the company spends $18 billion on capital expenditures, that leads to thousands of new jobs from the companies that make the equipment that AT&T buys.

Another example: AT&T also announced this week that it would spend up to $565 million to replace more than 15,000 gasoline-powered vehicles with a fleet powered by compressed natural gas and hybrid engines.

The Dallas-based company’s plans would be the largest corporate purchase of natural-gas vehicles. It plans to buy 8,000 Ford trucks and vans and convert them to natural gas engines. The company also plans to replace 7,100 passenger vehicles with hybrids over the next 10 years.

The nonprofit Center for Automotive Research, in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the AT&T vehicles would also reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over 10 years, equivalent to the annual emissions of 38,600 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles. The organization estimated the initiative will create or save 5,000 jobs, between manufacturing the vehicles and building and operating CNG stations. AT&T is planning to work with natural gas providers to build up to 40 new fueling stations across its operating region.

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Tags: AT&T, Center for Automotive Research, Ford, Fox News, hybrid, jobs, natural-gas vehicles