Local

Verizon Wireless announces closures of customer contact centers, impacting 1,000 employees

Verizon Wireless announced Wednesday that it will close five customer contact centers, including those in Cranberry Township and Warrendale, and relocate those jobs to other U.S. based centers with vacant space.
 
The closures will take place in May.
 
About 1,000 customer service employees in Cranberry Township and Warrendale will be encouraged to apply for other local positions or relocate to another of the company's 26 US-based customer contact centers with a relocation assistance package of $10,000 in after-tax dollars, Verizon said.   Employees who wish to visit another contact center to explore the area and new work environment will be offered $500 to defray travel costs.
 
In Cranberry Township, about 600 customer service positions in the contact center will relocate to one of 26 customer contact centers across the U.S. including the company's Hilliard, Ohio, facility. Approximately 40 non-customer facing employees will relocate four miles away to the remaining Warrendale facility, Verizon said.
 
In Warrendale, about 200 telesales employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to the company's other telesales locations in Tampa, Fa., Rancho Cordova, Calif. or Orangeburg, N.Y. Approximately 230 business and government account support positions will relocate to Hilliard, Ohio, Hanover, Md., or Alpharetta, Ga. The company will maintain its Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virginia Regional Headquarters in Warrendale, with about 340 employees in sales, finance, information technology, marketing, human resources and other departments.
 
The contact center consolidations are part of a national realignment to fill vacant space and make better use of the company's facilities, Verizon explained.

Nationwide, about 3,000 employees will be encouraged to seek other positions locally, relocate with company assistance to similar positions among the 26 contact centers, or accept a separation package.  Another 2,200 employees are transferring to other offices within driving distance.