https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2022 NextGen 101 Rankings
    • MSP 501 Information Center
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2022 NextGen 101 Rankings
    • MSP 501 Information Center
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Telephony/UC/Collaboration


Call Center

CWA: Verizon’s Home-Based Agent Model Costs Thousands of Call Center Jobs

  • Written by Edward Gately
  • March 13, 2018
Verizon says it is creating a more flexible and agile customer service work environment.

**Editor’s Note: Click here for the latest edition of the Channel Partners telecom and IT layoff tracker.**

Verizon is transitioning seven of its U.S. call centers to a 100 percent home-based agent (HBA) model, a move the Communications Workers of America (CWA) says will eliminate thousands of jobs.

The impacted call centers are in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Franklin, Tennessee; Hilliard, Ohio; Huntsville, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; Mankato, Minnesota, and North Charleston, South Carolina.

Rich Young, Verizon spokeman, tells Channel Partners the workers in those call centers are “impacted by the center closings, but the vast majority are being offered positions as home-based agents.”

“We’re creating a more flexible and agile customer service work environment based on the positive feedback we’ve received from our employees currently in the HBA program,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to provide our employees with more flexibility while meeting the demands of our business and our customers. Currently, 96 percent of our home-based agent (HBA) employees report being highly satisfied in their HBA role.”

According to the CWA, half of the 6,500 positions currently at six of the call centers will remain as the company transitions to the new model during the next year. The new home-based jobs require workers to be able to work split shifts, weekends and holidays, have high-speed internet at home and an extra room with total quiet — conditions that many working families cannot meet, it said.

CWA’s Dennis Trainor

CWA’s Dennis Trainor

“Workers deserve real job security,” said Dennis Trainor, CWA District 1 vice president and chair of CWA’s Wireless Workers United, a network of union and non-union workers. “If this is not a layoff, as Verizon Wireless claims, all workers … should get to keep their jobs. If workers don’t qualify for home-based positions, Verizon should provide nearby office space and not force workers to relocate hundreds or thousands of miles away from their current jobs.”

Young said the CWA does not represent these employees.

“In fact, employees at our wireless call centers have repeatedly rejected organizing attempts by the CWA and have decided to remain union free valuing the direct relationship with Verizon Wireless including our industry leading wages and benefits,” he said. “The HBA transition is an example of a popular change that will positively benefit many employees while caring for those who choose not to transition to HBA. Employees at these centers have responded positively to this announcement.”

Verizon’s latest job cuts come despite the company’s “continued profitability and recent windfall from the corporate tax cuts that Congress passed last year, which the company estimates will be $3-4 billion in 2018,” according to the CWA.

Tags: Agents Mobility & Wireless Telephony/UC/Collaboration

Most Recent


  • how to make embracing change part of your company culture
    How to Make Embracing Change Part of Your Company Culture
    When we anticipate, understand, model, and celebrate change in company culture, we create a foundation that opens doors and sets us up for growth and success.
  • Chatbot on laptop
    Avaya Reshapes Partner Landscape with New Cloud Products for a Hybrid World
    The company is offering more low code, no code solutions as well.
  • Jumper Cables
    The Gately Report: Synopsys to Jump-Start Investment in WhiteHat Security Partners
    Also, this week saw the first-ever rollout of a bug bounty program by a ransomware gang.
  • Conversation Intelligence Improves Outcomes for Contact Centers, Observe.AI Research Shows
    However, two-thirds of contact centers still rely on manual processes for critical workflows like agent coaching and quality assurance.

2 comments

  1. Avatar DAN March 16, 2018 @ 12:19 pm
    Reply

    I am sure Verizon Corporation is enjoying its wonderful tax windfall given so generously by our bought and paid for Congressmen! This is another case of letting the workers be damned!

  2. Avatar Chris April 23, 2019 @ 11:50 am
    Reply

    Actually Verizon used that tax cut to give all employees Company stock.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Welcome Mat
    Ex-Telarus Exec Scott Forbush Leaves Upstack for PPT Solutions After 5 Months
  • Woman with questions
    Should We Just Call Master Agents Distributors?
  • Benefit, Plus Sign
    TBI, Avant Add New Cloud, Security Suppliers to Lineups
  • CIO
    ScanSource Hires New CIO to Lead Global IT Strategy

Upcoming Events

View all

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

May 1, 2023 - May 4, 2023

Galleries

View all

7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at Datto, New Relic, Kyndryl, More

July 1, 2022

Cybersecurity Experts: July 4th Weekend Ripe for Ransomware, Other Attacks

July 1, 2022

Images: HPE Discover 2022 Expo Hall Featuring Microsoft, Ingram Micro, VMware

July 1, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

How to Make Embracing Change Part of Your Company Culture

July 1, 2022

How to Differentiate to Leverage 5G’s Revenue Opportunity

June 28, 2022

Why MSPs are Attractive Cyberattack Targets

June 24, 2022

Webinars

View all

VEP Platform for Delivery of uCPE, SD-WAN and SASE

June 29, 2022

The Digital Worker: How to Empower Customers with a Flexible, Scalable VDI Solution to Enable Remote Work

June 30, 2022

Growing Partner Revenue and Customer Satisfaction with Power Management Services

June 23, 2022

White Papers

View all

Work Goes Remote – (and Other Top ITOps Trends)

May 25, 2022

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

Vonage a ‘Single Communications Stack Provider’ for Partners, Customers

IBM, Partners and the $1 Trillion Hybrid Cloud Opportunity

June 26, 2022

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

May 6, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

Channel people making waves this week include: @jpdepa3rd, @RiyaShanmugam, @sandyhogan dlvr.it/STCM6S https://t.co/oVB86ztTtP

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

#Cybersecurity experts say July 4th weekend ripe for #ransomware, other attacks. @blumirasec @Netenrich @Vectra_AI… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

New @PureStorage #ITchannel leader details jump from Veritas. dlvr.it/STBsLB https://t.co/BFSmZ5ubff

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

New Pure Storage EMEA Channel Leader Details Jump from Veritas dlvr.it/STBrPQ https://t.co/LjFXo6FbVF

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@qumulo latest channel business to confirm layoffs impacting 80 workers. #storage dlvr.it/STBh1L https://t.co/hE10wBA3ka

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

Ranking on the #MSP501 isn't just an industry accolade... it brings pride to each company and their team. Congratu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

Company culture is ever changing in today's society - here are ways to embrace that change with @coxbusiness… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

#HPEDiscover expo hall images. Featuring @IngramMicroInc @msPartner @Veeam @Commvault and more.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022

MSP 501

The industry's largest and most comprehensive partner awards program.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X