Verizon Extends Voluntary Severance Offer to U.S. Employees Affected by Infosys Outsourcing Deal
October 11 2018 - 6:38PM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Krouse
Verizon Communications Inc. on Thursday changed the exit package
offered to about 1,000 of its U.S. workers who were set to move to
outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.
After telling those information-technology workers in late
September that they weren't eligible for severance, the wireless
carrier is now giving them the option of taking the exit package or
moving to Infosys with a guarantee of comparable pay for two
years.
A spokesman for Verizon said the offer reflected the carrier's
final agreement with Infosys. Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless
carrier by subscribers, recently signed a $700 million
information-technology outsourcing agreement with the Indian
company.
About a dozen employees affected by the move to Infosys said
they were initially surprised and disappointed that they were being
transferred to a new company, rather than being offered the same
severance packages many of their colleagues received.
Their frustrations stemmed in part from the timing of the
outsourcing agreement and a separate voluntary separation package
offered to more than 44,000 management employees.
In late September, Verizon told about 2,500 information
technology workers globally that they would be transferred or
"rebadged" to Infosys.
Initially, those workers were told they could accept the new job
offer with a guarantee of similarly valued benefits for one year or
refuse and forfeit access to their 2018 bonus and a special share
award granted after this year's tax overhaul, according to
materials distributed to workers and reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal.
"We appreciate and respect the concerns you have raised
regarding the transition to Infosys," Verizon executives wrote to
affected staff in a memo Thursday reviewed by the Journal.
"Everyone's really happy. They're happy that it's fair," said
Kathlyne Le, 44, who has worked at the carrier for 13 years.
Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 11, 2018 18:23 ET (22:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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