GCI plan to export Alaska jobs to Philippines deserves examination, state response

“There comes a time,” the GCI promotional video declares, “when we have to stop imagining a better Alaska and start making one. Sure, it might be hard work. It might take some sweat and tears. But you know what? Being Alaska born and raised, giving up isn’t in our blood. We’re the resilient, resourceful, the scrappy ones. So don’t just sit back. You have dreams? Let’s start something.”

“Tired of hearing that the last frontier is past its prime? Let’s start exploring a new frontier, the first frontier. We’re more connected than ever and together, we can’t be stopped.”

“This is our state. This is our future. We’re not giving up. Let’s get started.”

But there comes a time when GCI, part of a corporate behemouth in which Alaska is not the main focus, stops imagining and starts making a better future for itself by shipping Alaska jobs to the Philippines, claiming it’s all about providing better service to Alaskans.

The company claims that Alaskans refused to do the work and it can’t fill job vacancies.

If this is true, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the Legislature should be focused on doing something about it. Is it a lack of skills? Is GCI paying enough? Is the Dunleavy initiative for the future of Alaska education—which consists entirely of gutting the University of Alaska—making it more difficult to find a solution? The answer is to the last one is yes.

GCI pays Kriss Knauss and Royce Weller of Confluence Strategies $60,000 and Reed Stoops $20,000 to protect its interests in Juneau.

The state does a lot of business with GCI, but there is no sign that public officials are raising the job export plan as an issue or asking what can be done to stop it—which would be in the interests of Alaskans.

Alaska news organizations provide little coverage of business, aside from press release material. I was glad to see that the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner broke the story about GCI cutting 142 call center jobs in Anchorage and exporting the work to the Philippines, where call center jobs pay a few hundred bucks a month.

GCI claims it can’t fill 30 percent of its call center jobs, the News-Miner said. So the company is planning to export the vacancies. This, at a time of high unemployment in Alaska. The incident is troubling and deserves a thorough review by Alaska news organizations.

One of the News-Miner readers who commented on the story, Don Morton, said the questions this raises about the Alaska workforce and whether GCI is not paying enough are critical.

“I suggest that failure to think about these kinds of problems is not going to fare well for Alaska's future. Getting excited about a few jobs at a new Amazon sorting facility, a handful of petroleum jobs, or a new Arby's in town, I fear, are not the attitudes that are going to propel the state toward a prosperous (or even survivable) future,” he said.

As of Dec. 18, 2020, GCI is part of Liberty Broadband. No Alaska news organization has published an intelligible account of the complicated transaction or an analysis of what it means to Alaska.

Ron Duncan, a co-founder of GCI, remains the chief executive officer of the company.

In May, 2020, Barron’s reported on GCI’s part in the complicated empire controlled by John Malone, owner of the Atlanta Braves, the “Cable Cowboy.” The story emphasized the complexity of the corporate structures Malone favors and said the Alaska cable business was worth about $2 billion.

“How to understand Malone’s strategy? He creates pure-play vehicles on the investments and businesses he controls, either through stand-alone companies or, when tax issues prevent that, tracking stocks,’ Barron’s said.

“He remains in the background, as chairman of Liberty Media and other Liberty companies, while entrusting day-to-day responsibilities to several highly paid managers. Chief among them is Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media and other Liberty entities. Neither Malone nor Maffei would talk with Barron’s.”

Last month, Brian Wendling, the principal financial officer of Liberty Broadband, told investors in Februrary that GCI is focused on its “core competitive advantage, the Alaska network.”

Liberty Broadband had consolidated cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 billion at the end of 2020, with $32 million of that at GCI.

“Now just a quick update on GCI. 2020 was a great year for the company. For the full year, revenue grew 9%, and adjusted OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) grew 34% to $345 million, the company's highest-ever adjusted OIBDA driven by data demand and lower costs associated with bad—reduced bad debt and healthcare expenses, combined with previous cost-saving initiatives,” Wendling said.

This analysis says that Liberty Broadband, the 100 percent owner of GCI and Skyhook, owns more than one-quarter of Charter Communications. The Charter holdings are worth about $35 billion, but the market cap is $30 billion, “thereby assigning negative value to its two other core businesses.”

Alaskans deserve a clear explanation and examination of this complex corporate picture, as the advertising rah-rah doesn’t ring true: “This is our state. This is our future. We’re not giving up. Let’s get started.”

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