21,600 accept Verizon buyout

Verizon Communications Inc. will shed 21,600 workers at the end of this week as a result of a severance offer.

The figure, announced yesterday, far surpasses a prediction the company made last month, when it estimated as many as 12,000 workers might accept the offer.

The final total included 16,000 management employees and 5,600 unionized workers. The resignations will cut the company's work force about 10 percent, to 200,000. The company does not break down its work force by location, but it's the dominant provider of local telephone service in this region.
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Once the departing employees turn in their wire splicers and clean out their desks for the last time, Verizon will have cut nearly 50,000 jobs since 2001. The company has been reducing its head count to adjust to increased competition, the poor economy, the telecommunications slump and the changes technology has brought to the industry.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/111803/a0118verizon.html

these people will not show up on the unemployeed stats....

At some point if they don't find another job they will probably file for unemployment and then they will show up on the stats I think.

"voluntary" and "for cause" must wait for unemployment benefits a min of 4 weeks in most states.

Will this figure show up as "new jobs" in the government stats? If they only expected 12,000 to take the offer will VZ have to cover the excess losses? Hmmmmm

As a retiree of New England Tel/NYNEX/Bell Atlantic/Verizon I just hope this means the company is still making money.

of a company cutting off it's balls in the name of the bottom line. They are losing customers they thought would convert from dialup to DSL to their cable competitors. They lost many of their long-term residential DSL customers over a boneheaded customer service decision. They are losing land lines to wireless as well.

Bottom line here is now they are shorting their ability to even service the customers they have. Their customer service has consistently been terrible even with those 21000 employees. Cutting them will make things better?

Later,
JM

these folks didn't get their memo!!!

stop the presses!

how did this get slipped in?

increased competition, the poor economy, the telecommunications slump

someone needs to get themselves to the re-education camp :crazy:

in a 2d-level product management position. People all around me are taking the offer and leaving. Those who qualify get about two years' salary. (If I had four more years service, I would probably take the offer and change careers.)

If you're worried about job security anyway, working for the next two years for nothing doesn't sound that good. The number has continued to grow over the last few weeks as people in their late 40's and early 50's realize it doesn't pay to stay longer.

Most of the cuts are in management, and most jobs will not be backfilled. But if you're in the market, it's definitely worth looking over the next six months.

And BTW, Verizon really does need to downsize. the local telephone business is losing more and more lines to wireless and fiber-based competitors. While Verizon deserves criticism in a number of areas, this is the right move, and it's done with more generosity than a lot of companies are displaying.

I left in 1995 with a full pension after 24 years with no age penalty. Who was eligible for this latest offer?

years plus age to qualify in full. For example, you would qualify if you were 50 years old with 25 years' service. In this case, you would get roughly two years' salary as a lump sum, and also get retiremement benefits (I dont' know when they would kick in). People with 73 got a lesser offer.

Personally, I had 67 (49 YO and 18 years service), so it wasn't that close. I could have gotten a years' salary but forfeited retirement benefits, and that wasn't worth it.

There's more, but I didn't pay close attention. People who ran the numbers seemed to be impressed by the offer and thought there might not be another one like it.

I was lucky to get the offer I did when I did. I was 43 with 24 years. I get a 30-year pension plus they kick in $300 a month til I collect Social Security. The medical keeps going up but it's better than nothing. I was in HR/Training. They decimated the department back then.