I have been considering leaving Verizon for quite some time. what is life like once you leave
18 replies (most recent on top)
@cgav What industry are you in now? Sounds like you got a job that was willing to pay you a lot more? Nice to hear a happy ending story on here
There is life after VZW. I left on my own 6 months ago. Man i feel like i am 10 yrs younger. Worked at for 11 yrs there.
They treat their people like hell, but set you up very well in terms of skills and marketability. But with all of the negative and constant fire drills within they make most employees have "battered spouse syndrome".
Leave if you can, but i knew i was worth more than just waiting for a rif call. What my check would of have been I now make built into my new companies salary.
Get out
Follow these simple steps and Engineer your own RIF...
http://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-engineer-your-layoff-make-a-small-fortune-by-saying-goodbye/
...works like a champ!
I worked there for 15 years before I was let go. I loved the work I did. However, it was very stressful because we were always short staffed and tended to get a lot of call offs. I worked in an uppity part of the city and dealt with the worst entitled people. Expected to be helped instantly as if we were churning out fast food. I don't miss any of that. My life is so much better for not being there. Verizon made me very wealthy and I'm able to ride that money for quite a while.
10 yes I was at Verizon. Recently switched to sprint as a store manager ....I can say I'm happy for once. Atmosphere is spot on and you own your store. Not 50 metrics to follow. I still get anxiety from working at vzw while I'm here but leadership is strong here and helpful. Hope that helps. Don't stay somewhere that is killing you life and health
It obviously depends. Being at one place for a long time, you eventually get to hear which managers you should try to avoid reporting to. And which work group has more than its fair share of jerks. When you move to a new company, you don't have that knowledge. You can probably try to avoid VZ-style problems (going to a small company for example) but there can be a raft of whole new ones.
Also, many people here presumably joined VZ voluntarily (or at least didn't leave when acquired) and must have sort of happy with the job at the time. And yes, things change. But they may change as well at a new job!
I left on my own and was not going to hang around begging to get a rif. This was once a decent company back in the eighties but the parasites took over and made sure no one else could progress up the ladder. I was blocked on numerous occasions wanting to go to another organization citing needs of the business as the reason . The real reason was I was too damn good at my job and they couldn't let me go but made sure I was never paid for what I was worth. 33 years working for this toxic company. It's very difficult working for people who should be picking up garbage at the end of the day instead of effecting so many people negatively. I grew up when men acted like men instead of the wimps calling the shots these days. My last years were spent in an office that the elevators constantly broke down and the roof was leaking. Just another way to try to get you to leave . Best thing I ever did.
I volunteered for a RIF after 35 years and I got it ......best decision ever.
Leaving a miserable office environment filled with fear and no hope for a future can only be positive. Follow your gut instinct and do not be afraid of the unknown. Life has a way of turning around for the better just when you think you hit bottom. Believe in yourself and you will be just fine.
The day I walked out that door was the best thing that ever happened to my career and well being! Building 5 is full of a lot of people with no vision, aptitude or empathy. That is why this company continues to hemorrhage. It starts at the top and they can only spin reality so much.....
Stay and get the severance money. There will be quarterly RIFs all this year. If you are over 50 yrs old the grass aint so green on the other side.
I was cut at the end of 2015 and at the time I was devastated. Verizon is the only career I knew as an adult, and I thought they had the typical corporate culture.
I figured it was time for a career change and I fell into asset management working for another fortune 500 company. The difference in culture is dramatic. My new employer operates with much greater transparency, integrity and the people at the top mostly earned their way to that spot through experience and education. There are no fire drills over nothing, no constant lying, no wasteful spending on stupid sponsorships and worthless groups like VLSS.
I must admit, Verizon made me wealthy in the 12 years I worked for them with VAR's, LTI's, STI's, generous 401k match, profit sharing and ultimately a very generous severance. But the stress was just not worth it especially as you get older. And as a former insider, I can see Verizon is in serious trouble and their future does not look good at all between the debt, poor decisions, poor acquisitions and overall terrible leadership direction.
I would say if you think an EISP or severance is around the corner for your position, then I would stick around until you are offered that. Otherwise I would get out. As so many others have said on here, Verizon is a truly toxic culture and I did not realize this until I left.
I was forced out by Financial Transformation. I stayed because I wanted to do something with the severance. Took off 2 months, found a job the first week I started looking. The least stressful job in 20 years. Got out of telecommunication. IMO, stay if you only have a few months. For me the job market was easy.
Best decision you will ever make. The writing is on the wall. There is a whole world out there and VZ does not define you...Go be happy!
it's such a relief to be away from the toxic environment that was known as Verizon corporate retail. Sad story, it wasn't always that way. We worked, customers were happy, retention was at an all time high, then the powers that be started jacking with commission structures and reps had to try to make numbers not to get stellar commission, but balance out to keep their jobs, not to mention work related anxiety coming from the top down. Then corporate employed a lady with a degree in arts, collaborated and came up with go90 that costs us millions, and the front facing people paid the price. #ruralmarketsmatter
Yes, life is way better outside Verizon....Verizon is like working at the DMV nowadays..
Leaving Verizon was the best thing I could have ever done. Verizon is a sinking ship and I was not going to go down with it. I work for a much better company with grest group of people and feel respected and treated as a person rather than a disposable number. Verizon can kiss my @$$
I wish I'd left on my own instead of waiting to be RIF'd.