Trump touts Charter
hiring that was in works for two years
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[March 25, 2017]
By Steve Holland and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President
Donald Trump on Friday touted Charter Communications Inc's decision to
invest $25 billion in the United States and a plan the company announced
before he was elected to hire 20,000 workers over four years.
At a White House event with the second-largest U.S. cable company's
Chief Executive Thomas Rutledge and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Trump
praised Charter for planning to close its offshore call centers and move
them to the United States.
Much of the announcement was not new. Charter said last May that it
planned to add 20,000 jobs as part of its merger with Time Warner Cable
and acquisition of Bright House Networks. As early as June 2015,
Rutledge said Charter would need an additional 20,000 employees after
those deals.
On a number of occasions, Trump has touted job announcements at the
White House that had been previously planned or announced
The company said more than a year ago in February 2016 that it planned
to close foreign Time Warner Cable call centers and move the jobs to the
United States.
On Friday, Trump said, "We're embracing a new economic model - the
American Model. We’re going to massively eliminate job-killing
regulations - that has started already, big league - reduce government
burdens, and lower taxes that are crushing American businesses and
American workers.
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Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge (R) and Texas Governor
Greg Abbotts (L) speak to reporters after their meeting with U.S.
President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., March
24, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
"You’re going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs, of
companies, and everything coming back into our country."
Charter, which has 24 million residential and business customers in 41 states,
said on Friday it had committed to Trump to hiring those workers within four
years. It plans to invest $25 billion in broadband infrastructure and technology
in the next four years.
In May 2016 Rutledge said in a recorded interview there would be some overlap in
management positions (after the TWC merger) but said the company would hire
about 20,000 people over four years.
Rutledge said the broadband investment was being made "in the right regulatory
climate and right tax climate ... We’re committed to spending that predicated on
the kind of regulatory consistency and efficiency that we expect as a country."
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