Verizon to close Henrietta call center; 600 jobs lost
- Telecommunications giant said its Calkins Road facility will close in January.
- Workers will be offered relocation or severance packages.
- Jobs will be cut at several sites, marking the third time Verizon has done so in recent years.
Mammoth job cuts at a Henrietta call center are part of a larger, more encompassing effort by Verizon Communications to reduce head count and consolidate operations.
Verizon said Wednesday that it will close its Calkins Road operations and cut roughly 600 jobs by Jan. 27. Overall, 3,200 jobs nationwide were being eliminated by the telecommunications giant.
“It’s corporate greed at its worst,” Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of America, said in a prepared statement. “Verizon Communications brags about being the nation’s biggest wireless carrier. It’s an extremely profitable company.
“Does this mean more jobs and more customer service problems will be shipped to Verizon overseas operations in the Philippines and other countries?”
Verizon is also slashing jobs or shuttering call centers in Bangor, Maine; Lincoln, Nebraska; Rancho Cordova, California; and Orangeburg, Rockland County. The company also announced recently that it was cutting and combining jobs at its retail stores as growth in its wireless business has slowed.
The company also closed call centers in 2012 and 2014 and eliminated thousands of jobs in the process.
In its second-quarter results, Verizon reported a 2.4 percent decline in revenues for its wireline business, and a 5.3 percent decline overall. Its third-quarter earnings report is due next week.
“Verizon is in a very competitive business,” said George T. Conboy of Brighton Securities. “You have AT&T and Verizon trying to beat each other's brains out. You have consumers relentlessly pressing for better deals. Increasingly in the cell phone and Internet business … even fractions of a percent are important.”
He said rising labor costs, fueled in part by increasing minimum wages over the next several years, likely convinced Verizon to close its Henrietta facility.
Verizon recruited for 200 open positions at the Henrietta site in 2014.
“For a longtime everybody was getting a cell phone,” Conboy said. “Kids were getting cell phones. People’s pets were getting cell phones. Now, everybody’s goldfish has a cell phone. We don’t need any more goldfish with cell phones.
“Revenue growth has slowed dramatically and they are looking for new sources, hence a deal like Yahoo.”
Verizon wants $1B discount on Yahoo deal, report says
Verizon won a $4.8 billion bid for the internet company earlier this year, although recent reports show that negotiations for a lower price may be occurring behind closed doors after a massive data breach.
Spokeswoman Kim Ancin said Verizon was allowing local employees the opportunity to relocate to other sites in the Carolinas, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, New Mexico or Arkansas.
Employees choosing to move will receive two days of pay to use for travel, and up to an additional $500 reimbursement for travel costs. Those deciding not to relocate will be offered a severance package, Ancin said.
"We wanted to give our employees as much time as possible to consider their options," Ancin said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, in a statement, that the state’s Department of Labor's Rapid Response team has been directed to help affected workers. The agency often provides job placement services and other support for displaced workers.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, called Verizon’s decision "reckless."
"This is an egregious example of corporate abuse — among the worst we have witnessed during the six years of this administration," Azzopardi said in a release. "Verizon’s negligence is astounding and as a result, hard-working New Yorkers will lose their jobs."
State Assemblyman Harry Bronson represents the 138th district. His area district includes Henrietta. Bronson called it "extremely disappointing news."
"The reality is that there’s a corporation, Verizon, which by all accounts is profitable and successful," Bronson said. "They have money that they can expend, yet they decided that what they’re going to do is downsize and cut jobs in this area.
"It’s just unfortunate, because we have hard-working people here in the state of New York, and certainly in the greater Rochester area. They have dedicated themselves to this company."
The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce said it will help local workers through it staffing division.
"In many places, a loss of 600 jobs is like a tree falling in the forest," Chamber President and CEO Robert Duffy said in a release. "In upstate New York and the Finger Lakes region it is like a tree falling on your house.
"Rochester has a great history of resiliency in difficult times and I expect nothing less now."
TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com
Gannett Bureau reporter Jon Campbell contributed to this story.