I am 62 with nearly 32 years at Verizon. I was the only person who knew and understood what I did. I planned on another 3 to 5 years of working, but Verizon put me into early retirement. I am not angry with my direct management as they seemed to have been just as surprised I was part of the RIF. I completely believe that HR was given a directive from Dan to first target those 55 and older, then move to others. I only know a few people that are of retirement age who were able to stay. Everyone else in my age group got the boot without direct managements input. I am fortunate enough to have planned for an early retirement so I won’t be looking for a new job, but I feel for my colleagues that must continue working. Hans made horrible decisions and now Dan wants to come in and “fix” the problems.. Dan was/is on the Board of Directors and would have approved what Hans did .. personally I think the entire Board should be fired. Verizon was good to me for many years until Hans became CEO and things started going downhill. Best of luck to all of you and hope you have fulfilled futures
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@my bro he literally said he can afford an early retirement. You’re trying to clown someone for simply voicing their concerns and own personal opinion on a forum talking about “managed life poorly” yet you lack basic reading and comprehension skills. SMH.
I too was RIF'd into early retirement. I'm almost 62 and been with the company for 31 years. I'm actually glad I got RIF'd. I'm done with always wondering when the other shoe is going to drop and training up new managers where I basically have to start from scratch again. Good luck to you all
The query has always been how much do you cost ,then where you rank in the political structure to be immune from the first criteria. So popularity contest. If you are a worker drone but nobody important knows you exist see ya. If your workgroup is all 50+ that is a home run to get everyone since no legal defense needed there.
If former employees find themselves in this position, the logical response is to organize. Working with groups like AARP brings visibility, structure, and leverage. When age based discrimination is ignored, collective action including consumer boycotts becomes both justified and effective. Companies respond when reputational risk and revenue are on the line, not when concerns are quietly dismissed.
Telecom is not a niche business. It serves nearly the entire adult population. In the United States, wireless penetration exceeds the population and broadband reaches almost every household. A large share of this market is fifty plus, financially stable, loyal, and low churn. When a company is seen tolerating ageism, it is not an internal HR issue. It is a self inflicted brand and revenue risk. Awareness spreads fast, advocacy groups mobilize, customers walk, and markets punish. No telecom executive should assume they are immune to that outcome.
Look at your Older Workers Benefit Protection Act Report. In my SVP clearly older employees are laid off at a higher rate than younger. 12 people in there 30s had my job title, Zero of these were laid off., 0% 9 people in there 60s and 70s had my job title, seven of these were laid off, 78%.
For the SVP's org as a whole, 12.6% under 50 were laid off, 22% over 60 were laid off.
@df
somewhat true but the days of younger career people staying has passed. Best to keep the older around to train the mid-career people
If you had to make a choice who to save… who has more potential? The person at the beginning or the person close to the end of their career. Is this really discrimination or just planning 5-10 years ahead and making the right bets.
If you raise your hand I suggest do it in an email, send to your reporting Director and copy HR Business Partner. I dod this because I did not trust DEI Director to submit on my behalf since I did their job while the Director was busy doing power points.
55 is not a factor and it was not determined by HR....I have plenty of over 55 who was not hit at all. In fact new ones got hit..
I am guessing it is your salary but you direct management knew it
@b9 is achieving the lowest one? I thought it was developing
Just look at the agreement you have to sign to get your severance for confirmation. You can’t sue for age discrimination, you can’t join a class action, and you can’t even testify in someone else’s age discrimination suit.
VZ…where brown is more valuable than brains.
So, go out and get another job if you still want to work! - @b8
You act like jobs that pay a decent wage are plentiful. This isn't the 1950's.
@ac Custodians dodged this round.
If I were to describe my state - 50, only woman in the team, 10 years in Vz, new to the role with midyr perf of achieving (because my manager said it just has to be and no way I can be performing; 3mos into the role by the mid yeat).
@OP - "I am 62 with nearly 32 years at Verizon....planned on another 3 to 5 years of working, but Verizon put me into early retirement."
So, go out and get another job if you still want to work! It sounds more like you're making the decision to hang it up.
Here's an interesting post I saw on this site that is more encouraging to older displaced workers then downtrodden claims of ageism.
@"I believe that was terminated because of my age (56 years)."
Sorry for your career upheaval at this stage, but you're not exactly elderly. Depending on your financial situation and health you could conceivably work another ~15 years.
Several years back I was cut loose from a horrendous Telecom company in a layoff wave at age 59 and never looked back (you can guess which company). Within several months I lined up another corporate position at a higher level (Senior Management) and more than doubled my compensation. I'm working in another industry which has been a breath of fresh air.
Morale of the story is that there are jobs out there for later career people who still want to work. I'm not suggesting everyone will be able to entirely mimic my career path but you won't get much sympathy from me being at a crossroads in your mid 50's.
Wish you the best whatever going forward decisions you make!
To cut 13,000 using many DEI Directirs and above Dan needed to makebthis simple math. Disregard Performance... ages 55+ and start at highest number. White Male extra credit.
Myself and many others in my VP group were offered a severance... we all welcomed the chance to leave our 30-40years experience behind as the legacy Vz culture is gone forever.
@aw assume you meant "colleagues."
@aw 60 here with medical conditions. I hinted that I was willing to raise my hand. Completely ignored. I mean total silence. Still here. Didn't get a no, yes, you're too valuable.
Nothing.
Indeed, the vast majority of my college's that were laid off were 55 or older. Many had medical conditions.
Most companies have worker contributions and deductibles set so high on health insurance that an employee will almost always choose Medicare when they turn 65. Companies are technically not allowed to steer employees to Medicare, but high prices are technically not steering I guess. What would be interesting to know is if group insurance policies provide a corporate discount of sorts to employers for these employees that neither is worrying about insuring? That might make the 70 year old cheaper to keep around than the 55 year old.
@ac You must be low pay
@ac haha.. I did say that I knew a few people that are in my age bracket that were not part of this RIF 😉😉