CEO Vestberg said the loss of more than 10,000 employees will be seamless to customers.

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

December 10, 2018

1 Min Read
Verizon Buyout Offer Will Cull More Than 6% of Employees by July 2019

Verizon employees found out today that they'd soon have the opportunity to "work differently" as about 10,400 of their colleagues accepted the telco's voluntary buyout offer.

As reported earlier, more than 44,000 Verizon employees were first given the chance to continue their careers elsewhere. (See Verizon Offers 44,000 Employees a Buyout Deal.)

"These changes are well-planned and anticipated, and they will be seamless to our customers," said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, in a prepared statement. "This is a moment in time, given our financial and operational strength, to begin to better serve customers with more agility, speed and flexibility.

"For those who were accepted, the coming weeks and months will be a transition," Vestberg said in a letter to employees. "For the entire V Team, there will be opportunities to work differently as we prepare for the great things to come at Verizon. Together, we are leading the world during this great technological revolution, and we will continue to lead the way."

Those who took the buyouts will either leave at the end of this year, the end of March 2019 or the end of June 2019.

The company had 152,300 employees at the end of third-quarter 2018; the buyout will clear out roughly 6-7% of the company's ranks.

— Phil Harvey, US News Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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