Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

How long does it take for Verizon to plan & execute these layoffs?

I’m curious. I was laid off yesterday. A big corporation like Verizon must have a process they go through before notifying the employee. I’m trying to backtrack over conversations and events to determine when the decision was made to put me on the layoff list.

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Post ID: @OP+1le38rUf

26 replies (most recent on top)

Your manager was most likely not aware that it was going to happen until the day before. The employees on your team were ranked by your manager or director at some point within the last year and that ranking was used to determine the employees that got cut.

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Post ID: @7oul+1le38rUf

@3uxo+1le38rUf As someone who has been involved in multiple “dark” projects w reductions, this is no accurate. There is no such thing as ranking. Mgrs, Sr Mgrs, Directors have zero input on what is happening. The Directors might know ahead of time what the end goal is, but they have zero input from the modeling. Read the numerous post how the RIFs makes zero sense. It might make zero sent to those involved but it make complete sense to the modeling.

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Post ID: @4zwo+1le38rUf

@3uxo+1le38rUf Nowadays Managers have zero input on who gets a pink slip and there is no such a thing as asking Managers to rank their direct reports to avoid favoritism. This is all done by 3rd party consultants and HR. If you read other posts here, you’ll see people complained about how top performers from their teams got RIFed and slackers got to stay …

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Post ID: @4wsf+1le38rUf

Don’t spin your wheels on the whys. It is what it is.

Salary, performance, time in job. Those details can’t be disclosed and as someone said above, if your manager knew ahead, they were acting as though it was fine, there’s no trail to go down.

Focus on your next adventure. Best wishes.

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Post ID: @3nrq+1le38rUf

each manager ranks his team from highest to lowest performer and submits the result via a spreadsheet to his mgmt team. layoff candidates are then selected from the bottom up. it's the same thing that musk did with the twitter folks. after a number of rifs the expertise eventually dwindles down to nothing.

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Post ID: @3uxo+1le38rUf

@2vwi+1le38rUf - dead on. One added group - supposedly the names go to legal for sign off as well before finalization of the rif slate.

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Post ID: @3vmx+1le38rUf

He-l, they laid off my mgr and sr. Mgr but still made them lay me off

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Post ID: @3myu+1le38rUf

30 - 60 days prior to notification, usually closer to 60 days.

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Post ID: @3ugi+1le38rUf

"They get inputs from a consultant company on what they are targeting and what the competition is doing. Other have posted they saw EY at the office, that is probably a bad sign. EY and Accenture are probably on retainers. Then they start to process with HR..."

No. It's really much more simpler, and HR is not involved until the RIF candidates are selected.

P or VP decide numbers and then pass to Directors, directors to managers. Managers or managers and directors select X number from teams. RIF candidate slate passed to HR for the potential lawsuit review. RIFs on X date. That's it. Simple.

No 3rd non VZ party is involved, EVER (lawsuit), until a RIFee seeks the outplacement services offered in the severance package.

It's all about the budget, not what trends are in other companies.

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Post ID: @2vwi+1le38rUf

You were a dead man walking for at least 1 month if not a few weeks longer. And your manager interacted with you as if nothing was out of normal...

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Post ID: @2vgq+1le38rUf

As a former VZ’er (11 year tenure), I promise there is a life after Verizon, and you too will be thankful for changes like this. My anxiety working for Verizon was unhealthy. I couldn’t sleep most nights due to the unnecessary stress and pile-on VZ puts on it’s most valuable resource; The people. After being riffed, I feel nothing but relief. I’m able to sleep nights. I have a healthy career with a company who respects and appreciates my contribution. I’m so thankful Big Red freed me. They didn’t deserve my skills and talents. I would have continued to stay with Verizon for (probably) another decade with zero career mobility, massive stress, and no passion for what I was doing. If you were riffed, I know it’s never a good time. It may not feel like it now, but soon it will feel like a gift. Best wishes.

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Post ID: @2jha+1le38rUf

Have you ever seen the movie Trading Places?

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Post ID: @1cej+1le38rUf

In some groups perfance may matter but in others it is something else. Know some bad stuff about the higher ups or just being buddies with thr hoss seems to grt alot of folks no work and layoff immunity.

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Post ID: @1yha+1le38rUf

They get inputs from a consultant company on what they are targeting and what the competition is doing. Other have posted they saw EY at the office, that is probably a bad sign. EY and Accenture are probably on retainers. Then they start to process with HR and have numerous teams including WFP and Transformation work on the dark project. They will have many models submitted and the final product will be a combination of everything but each team once submitted will get removed so they don’t know. Only HR will be in the whole way. Once they land on the outcome, they will clue in the Directors right before it happens. Leaders have zero to very little input to prevent favoritism. In the Indirect case, the outcome was remove all AMs and have a centralized point of contact and a regional contact. No input needed. I believe our competition has a form of this to care for their agents. The last Nov layoff was remove the duplicity of teams, Product Development , Product Marketing, Product Management, various versions of Engineers and Architects, etc. I would look at job functions and is there duplicity and that is what the new organization is about.

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Post ID: @1wci+1le38rUf

It’s all about performance. Everyone I know who wh-t laid off did nothing compared to peers. there’s so many useless bodies at Vz

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Post ID: @1fli+1le38rUf

Knowing some of the people let go, performance matters.

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Post ID: @szb+1le38rUf

Unionize people..unionize.....there will be more pros than cons

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Post ID: @kap+1le38rUf

This information should be shared on y combinator and elsewhere. If legit.

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Post ID: @kis+1le38rUf

During the big Ops reorg last year, a colleague in Business Transformation informed me the reorg was the “dark project” she had been working on for about 5 months. Would love to see the method behind the madness.

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Post ID: @pxp+1le38rUf

RIFs are all about money and budget. Your high salary could’ve triggered your RIF.

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Post ID: @ahx+1le38rUf

@uik, it isn't about not having up to date skills, it is about starting someone off at entry level pay rates versus someone who is seasoned with decades of raises and bonuses putting them at the top of the pay range for the same job and skills.

My sister is a recruiter. She says she makes over 90 but a new recruiter out of college can be brought in for around 30.

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Post ID: @jpa+1le38rUf

@rmo+1le38rUf if you're that easily replaced by a college grad you should have gained more skills or made yourself essential. Ageism works both ways. Just because you've sat in a seat for 30 years doesn't entitle you to sit in it for another 5.

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Post ID: @uik+1le38rUf

The old concept of Last Hired First Fired is out the window at Verizon. They don't care about institutional knowledge and experience. They want to know who is the cheapest a-s to put into a seat. If you've been with the company for 30 years and they can get a kid out of college and pay her half of what you are paid to fill the same seat, you are at risk. It is as simple as that.

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Post ID: @rmo+1le38rUf

My understanding is that it's done by a third party. We know they have spreadsheets with job titles & bands, age, etc. on it broken down by director and maybe a few more levels. They also know how to get around the age discrimination aspect legally too. So disgusting, cold, and impersonal. This is sadly the way of the corporate world and a risk we take when entrusting our livelihoods to the man..and I'm not talking about the incompetent 5YEEE but all of those with the golden parachutes. We are nothing but numbers to them despite all of the freakin' rah rah cr-p and Verizon Cares cr----a they put in our faces. It's all kabuki theater.

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Post ID: @ukj+1le38rUf

If it is a percent change versus a department elimination, the planning starts early in the Q. Who specifically is targeted is determined based on an AI ran by a third party with a cost benefit score. The lists are given to directors the week before to give input but a while back they pulled the decisions away from departments to a third party. It takes out some of the buddy system decisions but it absolutely ki-ls productivity and team motivation because it leans toward elimination of more expensive associates who got that way because they are more critical and teams rely on them.

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Post ID: @asv+1le38rUf

many months

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Post ID: @ohg+1le38rUf

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