The AT&T bonuses were announced Dec 20.

Dec 14th (aka a week earlier) one of the unions that employees of AT&T belong to, made an agreement between the union and AT&T. This agreement was a $1000 bonus and a 10% pay increase. Note this union agreement was not for all AT&T employees (21,000 CWA employees of AT&T vs 200,000 employees announced a week later. So understand AT&T gave bonuses for 9 times as many people besides what the legal union agreement was for.)

Then Between Dec 14th and the first week of January AT&T announced 4600 layoffs (600 first announced before Christmas, 4000 in Jan). Yet while these layoffs are occurring AT&T a few weeks earlier promised 7,000 new jobs when they announced the bonuses. Who knows if these 7,000 new jobs will materialize and if so what will be the pay scale, job location in which markets, what are the technical requirements for the jobs, and so on.

Aka life is complicated, businesses is complicated, PR either from companies or from politicians are almost always damn simple, easy, and soundbite.

Oh also people complaining about business and politicians are also really simple complaints that are sound bitable even if the solutions to the problem are complex.

Here let play a little music to demonstrate my point

(5 people singing different refrains at the same time)

https://youtu.be/DPgE7PNzXag?t=327