Verizon plans to close its Bangor call center by the end of March, a move that will affect around 200 employees.
Verizon spokesman Michael Murphy says ultimately this is a real estate exercise. He says there are larger centers in the U.S. with empty seats that they’re hoping to fill with workers from centers that are being closed.
“A lot of real estate with empty seats,” he says. “The idea is to try and consolidate folks, you know, as many as we can under the fewest amount of roofs possible.”
Murphy says Verizon would like to hang onto Bangor call center workers and are hoping they’ll relocate to other centers in the U.S. He says the employees are being offered travel stipends and paid time off so they can check out other Verizon locations.
“If it’s a fit and they come back and say, ‘Yes, that call center and that environment is a great fit for me,’ then we would then, you know, work to transfer them over and then offer them a $10,000 after tax lump sum relocation package,” he says.
Murphy says eligible employees unable to relocate or who do not secure other assignments with the company will be offered individualized separation packages and outplacement help.
Murphy says around 3,200 Verizon employees nationwide are affected by the consolidation effort.
