Verizon Wireless to close five call centers, consolidate seven others

Among the five call centers that Verizon Wireless is closing is one in Irvine.

By Salvador Rodriguez

Feb. 12, 2014 1:25 PM PT

<i>This post has been corrected, as indicated below.</i>

Verizon Wireless is closing five of its customer-service call centers in the U.S. and consolidating seven others in a move that will affect about 5,200 workers.

“The company is closing a few call centers, and we are relocating those jobs to make best use of these open seats that we have,” said Ken Muche, a spokesman for the New Jersey company. It has open seats and desks at many of its call centers, he said.

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In California, Verizon Wireless will close its call center in Irvine in May, a move that will affect 1,075 employees. However, its Irvine campus will remain open with an additional 1,330 employees continuing to work in other departments, including marketing, networks and information technology.

In addition to the Irvine call center, Verizon Wireless said it will also close two in Pennsylvania and one each in Ohio and Connecticut.

The closures will affect 3,000 employees.

Verizon Wireless will offer each affected employee a $10,000 benefit to relocate to one of the company’s other call centers. They can also apply for other positions within the company or take a severance package.

The affected staffers can also take time off and get as much as $500 to visit possible transfer locations, Verizon Wireless said.

“We want all these folks to stay with Verizon Wireless,” Muche said.

About 2,200 employees at seven call centers across the country will be moved to nearby offices.

Among the call centers that will be consolidated is one in Folsom, Calif. The 275 customer service employees there will be transferred to the call center in nearby Rancho Cordova, Calif.

[For the Record, 1:46 p.m. PST Feb. 12: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said call center closures will affect 3,200 employees and call center consolidations will affect 2,000. Closures will affect 3,000 while consolidations will affect 2,200.]

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