Verizon, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world recently held a meeting with its customer service employees to discuss an upcoming restructuring initiative. The company lost 127,000 postpaid subscribers in Q1 '23, which fell short of Wall Street estimates. Therefore, the restructuring measures could result in significant layoffs, impacting far more than the over 6,000 employees present on the call.
The Impacts of Verizon’s Restructuring Initiative
The workers affected by Verizon’s restructuring initiative received the deadline of June 7th to either accept a severance offer or apply for roles in customer experience, loyalty, and technology positions.
However, those who apply for new positions are not guaranteed to be hired. It is speculated that the company is making these moves to shift after-sales service and customer assistance to outside vendors overseas, halting domestic hiring for customer service positions.
These developments come after the company announced cellular plan changes that have received a lukewarm reception from customers.
Cellular Plan Changes and Lukewarm Reception
The potential Verizon’s layoffs would continue an ongoing wave of similar cuts across the tech industry at major companies.
The decision to curtail investing in customer experience in the US could prove detrimental to the business and to customers seeking assistance, as well as loyal employees uncertain of their career path.
In conclusion, Verizon's restructuring initiative could impact thousands of employees and have significant effects on the company's customer experience as well and while the root cause of the restructuring may be the loss of subscribers and the need to cut costs, the decision to outsource customer service and assistance may not be the best move for the company in the long run.
It remains to be seen how things will go.
