Verizon takes 4th-quarter loss (2003 --21,000 job loss)

[Whoa_Nelly]

Verizon Communications said Thursday it lost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003, attributing it to the costs of an employee buyout in which the company shed 21,000 jobs.

The job reduction cost Verizon, the nation's largest phone service provider, $3.1 billion.

The cuts were an effort to close the door on a lackluster period and focus on moving forward. Verizon, like SBC Communications, faces stiff competition from smaller phone companies that offer local and long-distance service. In addition, the two phone giants have to deal with a steady decline in wire lines and customers who rely more on cellphones and e-mail.

The buyouts were designed "to put a couple of bad years behind them," said David Yedwab, a telecommunications analyst with Eastern Management Group, a New Jersey research firm. "They want to put themselves in a position to grow in 2004."

more...
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7834012.htm

[On the Road]

1. The Buyout Offer Was Generous

I'm a Verizon employee, and I didn't qualify. Verizon should be given credit for that.

What the article doesn't say is that the long-term outlook is not great. The local phone companies are losing customers at an increasing rate, and growth in wireless is slowing down. There are no new products or technologies on the horizon capable of generating the growth that would make up for that.

I started in 1985. Until at least the mid-90's, the company was hopping. There was an explosion of new products, technoologies, types of customers, and revenue opportunities. It was easy to find interesting jobs in which you actually had some responsibility and could make decisions. There was too much going on to be micromanaged by the executives.

Now everything in the consumer area is packages, which are managed from the top. Even long-distance. When those finish rolling out, there's really nowhere for the company to go.

[liberalnurse]

4. All my communications services are with Verizon....

On-line, cell, 3-LAN-lines at home....(kids, fax)....

I have great service and wish to thank the Verizon employee for a job well done.

I have road-runner for myself as DSL is not in my area. :-(

[nolabels]

5. They are foolish for letting people go

I am glad they took over General Tel a while back, but some of their people are poorly trained and uniformed now. Even some of the service reps don't even know all the products they carry even.

What really ticks me off is these contractors they hire to fill in for the Union folks's postitions. These piss-pour contractors install and fix other peoples lines around our house and knock ours and many others out while working.

(could someone place of the problems of poor company performance at the feet of the corporate execs, who seem more worried about their perks than the health of the company, just wondering)

[On the Road]

6. Seidenberg Needs a Pay Cut

but most of the decline is due to changes in the industry, technology, and regulation.

Competitive local phone companies, who have a locked-in price advantage, are causing the number of local phones to drop each month. Prices are down across the board. People are giving up their phone lines for wireless. Long-distance prices have plummeted. VoIP has given businesses a way to bypass local telephone service for a fraction of the cost. Wireless is gradually maturing. Even services like broadband are no longer new, and when a home buys DSL, they often disconnect a phone line.

There's just not a lot of growth there. Not much really new, except around the edges. The basic telecom industry desperately needs a killer app.

There will be more cuts -- both management and labor. I just hope I can make it for another 3 1/2 years in order to get locked in to retirement benefits.

[aquart]

2. What is the Verizon CEO paid?

Has he taken a cut?

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg's Salary

Ivan G. Seidenberg, Age 57
CEO and Director, $1,500,000 salary, $2,700,000 bonus

http://www.hoovers.com/verizon/--ID__10197,PID__12868855--/free-co-people-bio.xhtml

BELLSOUTH, QWEST, VERIZON AND SBC SENIOR MANAGEMENT COMPENSATION: A PRIMER IN CORPORATE GREED.

<snip>
Since 1999, Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon’s CEO, made $54 million in salary, bonus and retirement funds, as well as stock options of 2.6 million shares, estimated value between $83-215 million dollars. Seidenberg’s base salary went up 25% over the last three years and his bonuses and "awards" were 1045% above salary.

http://www.newnetworks.com/prcompensation2002.htm