Verizon warns its employees in the customer service department of impending layoffs. The company now seems poised to shift more customer service operations overseas as it reveals to workers to make a choice in trying for new roles in the company or accepting a severance package.
Verizon Warns Of Impending Layoffs
Just a couple of days after overhauling its wireless data plans, Verizon held a meeting on Wednesday with a wide audience of customer service employees in order to notify them of upcoming “restructuring” and “streamlining” measures that are all but certain to result in major layoffs. More details will be shared tomorrow, May 25th, as per a prerecorded message that employees got. More than 6,000 employees were present on the call made today— The Verge however spoke with a couple of them, but the consolidation measures could however end up impacting numbers that are far beyond that.
The warning in question comes just a month after Verizon posted Q1 ’23 earnings, which as you should know fell short of Wall Street estimates as its subscriber base continued to fold. The firm lost 127,000 postpaid subscribers in the quarter alone. The company back in March appointed Sowmyanarayan Sampath as CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, which as normal oversees its customer service operation.
The Fate of Affected Employees
Those employees that are involved in today’s call were told that they would be able to accept a severance offer which is two weeks per year of tenure or, in certain cases, apply for roles to “transition to the next stage of your career journey.” And according to an internal document that was provided to The Verge, those roles in question revolve around customer experience, loyalty, as well as technical positions.
The company gave workers that were affected by the news a deadline of June 7th to make a decision on their preference, according to people who were reportedly on the call. And those people who apply for new positions are not guaranteed to be hired, and for those who do not take the severance option, June 23rd is the set date that Verizon will inform employees of their future at the firm.
The Reason for the Layoffs
Some people over on the Verizon subreddit, are now speculating that the company is making these moves so that it can easily shift yet more after-sales service and customer assistance to outside vendors based overseas. Verizon has largely stopped domestic hiring for customer service positions, as per people who are familiar with the matter.
The reported developments come soon after Verizon just announced rejiggered cellular plans that have been met with a lukewarm reception from some customers ever since they no longer bundle in premium services such as Apple Music or the Disney Bundle. Carriers at the moment are facing stagnant revenues and are thus trying to monetize 5G in any way that they can after many years of hyping the faster network technology. Verizon has revealed that it plans to flip the switch on the C-band spectrum in more areas all through the country over the next couple of months.
The Effect of Job Layoffs in the Tech Industry
The Verge has however reached out to Verizon for more details regarding the matter. Potential layoffs would however continue an ongoing wave of similar cuts all across the tech industry at major companies, which is inclusive of Meta, Disney, Lyft, and many others.
The Effect of Verizon Layoffs in the US
Verizon all through the years has touted its comprehensive network coverage as well as its award-winning customer service. And now, making a choice to curtail investing in that experience in the US could prove quite detrimental both for the business and customers that are looking for some help — not to make mention of the many loyal employees who are now uncertain of where their career path goes from here on forth.
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