On Monday, more than 10,000 workers or about 7% of Verizon’s global workforce voluntarily accepted the buyout offer from the company. The buyout first announced in September as part of the cost-cutting measure. Verizon also announced that they need to reach a goal by 2021 to save at least $10 billion in cash.
Depending on the length of service, Verizon offered eligible employees and managers up to 60 weeks of salary plus benefits and bonuses. Employees have varying deadlines which range from the end 2018 to June 2019. This program has been offered to more than 44,000 employees across the Verizon business segments.
Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, said in a memo to staff that for the people who have accepted the offer, there will be a transition in the coming months. Addressing the entire team that there will be opportunities to work differently in preparation for the tremendous things that will come at Verizon.
The restructuring announced first earlier this fall as part of a larger effort to trim personnel in advance in an effort to push the company into the 5G network service. Vestberg said that the changes are well-planned and will give seamless service to the customers, given the financial and operational strength.