The (really) ugly side to M&A

I get the feeling that overall there is a general trend towards an improving economy (not great, but increasingly better) but what concerns me about this trend is that M&A will be increasingly hot which means significant job cuts. The ATT and SBC merger wasted no time in announcing 13,000 jobs out the window and that is just the first round and just that deal. I am not against profits but it never sits right with me to see a windfall for a select few in these deals and then announcments like this immediately afterwards.