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Verizon offers buyouts
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November 21, 2001: 9:55 a.m. ET
Telecom extending offer to union workers in latest round of job cuts.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Verizon Communications confirmed Wednesday it is offering voluntary buyouts to employees as the nation's No. 2 telecommunications company looks to cut costs amid increasing competition and the slowing economy.
Spokesman Eric Rabe declined to discuss how many jobs Verizon is targeting, but the cuts would come on top of 7,000-8,000 made earlier this year, also chiefly through voluntary buyouts. The company currently employs 256,000.
"We are asking each business unit to manage their work flow, which means managers' jobs have been eliminated, not the union positions, and we have eliminated contract work," Rabe told CNNfn Wednesday.
Verizon (VZ: up $0.09 to $49.29, Research, Estimates), whose stock has dropped 17 percent from its 52-week high of $59.37 in October, also has cut back on overtime, eliminated contractors and offered early retirements. Those actions, together with the buyouts, have saved Verizon the equivalent of a job force reduction of 20,000 employees.
Though union jobs have not been cut, the company now is extending voluntary incentive packages to members, Rabe said.
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Verizon, along with other telecommunications providers, has been struggling with decreased demand for long-distance and local phone service as the economy has slowed and many customers instead opt for mobile phone service or bundled high-speed packages that include Internet and cable connections.
The company has been putting off a public offering of its wireless division all year, citing market volatility amid the slowing economy. 
From staff and wire reports
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