Verizon Communications Inc. met with customer service employees last summer, signaling imminent “restructuring” and “streamlining” measures expected to result in substantial layoffs, as reported by The Verge. With over 6,000 employees present during the call, the impact of these consolidation measures may extend beyond initial estimates. Verizon was slated to reveal details about the restructuring plan last summer, as conveyed in a prerecorded message to employees. However, no public updates have since been released. Workforce Reductions Across Companies The reported layoffs at Verizon align with a broader trend of U.S. companies, including Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., implementing workforce reductions due to a demand downturn attributed to elevated inflation and rising interest rates. In April, Verizon fell short of its first-quarter revenue and free cash flow estimates, citing wireless subscriber losses as inflation-weary Americans postponed device upgrades, and the...

It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and perseverance to climb the corporate ladder at your workplace. Twenty-two years ago, Krista Bourne started at Verizon Consumer Group in its mailroom where she began to discover the needs of the company’s large customer base. Now, she’s a part of leading how the business runs daily to ensure it’s upholding its mission of quality service for over 100 million customers. After having more than 10 roles to her name at Verizon Consumer Group, Bourne now holds the title of chief operating officer (COO) — making her the first Black woman to be in the role at the company. According to the c-suite executive, her drive to enact positive change is what helped her have a tunnel vision of reaching where she is now in her career. “I charted my career to ensure that in every role I’ve had, through customer service, retail sales, and operations, I’ve been able to drive positive change through customer feedback,” she told AfroTech. “Now, I’m at the level...

Bridging the digital divide amongst underserved communities is essential to giving everyone in the nation equal access to critical communications networks. According to Verizon’s latest initiative, the telecommunications company has created a way to make reliable, high-speed internet more accessible to those in underserved communities who meet financial assistance requirements through Verizon Fios Forward. A news release shares the Fios Forward program was first offered to new customers back in April 2020, and generates much faster and more equipped internet services, unlike traditional home Internet assistance programs. It also offers eligible customers a discounted rate for faster internet service. The goal of the program is to rid customers of unreliable internet providers who limit their access to quality home internet, which often lacks speed and the capacity to handle more than one user’s demands. This has become an increased issue over the last year due to many citizens...

Tumblr has seen quite a few different owners in the past few years. In 2013, the online blogging platform was sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion in hopes that it’d make the company relevant on the internet once again. That didn’t really work out because Yahoo itself was acquired by Verizon in 2017 . It’s clear that Verizon has never really known what to do with Tumblr. Last year , Verizon banned all pornography and sexually explicit content on Tumblr after finding child pornography on the platform. Critics of the move argue that Verizon could have worked to crack down on the exploitation of minors specifically because Tumblr was pretty well-known for its not-safe-for-work (NSFW) scene. Since the ban, Mashable reported that Tumblr lost almost a third of its users. Now, Verizon is looking to sell Tumblr, according to The Verge — and one company is already expressing interest. In a statement to BuzzFeed News , Corey Price, Vice President of Pornhub, said his company was “extremely...