Former Alltel employees find out they are now former Verizon employees as the telecommunications giant sheds jobs in Little Rock Thursday. Verizon isn't saying how many.
We've heard reports of perhaps 100 employees let go Thursday, possibly even hundreds more but Verizon officials refuse to confirm how many. It's part of the Verizon buyout of Alltel. But it doesn't make it any easier for employees.
Vehicles were seen rolling out of the Verizon campus off Riverfront Drive mid-morning Thursday. Employee Stephanie Hobbs saw it coming.
"We heard November 19th was going to be one of the biggest layoffs they've had so far," Hobbs says.
Verizon won't say how big but for Hobbs only one job matters, the one she lost.
“Oh, it's actually over now. You know it's coming but then when it gets here, you're like, I don't have a job to go to tomorrow," Hobbs says.
The New Jersey based telecommunications company is eliminating jobs duplicated when Verizon bought Alltel last year. FOX16 News content partner Roby Brock with Talk Business projects more cutbacks in the next year.
That means more work for Mike Stafford. He’s a former Alltel executive and started
AfterAlltel to help laid off employees.
"I thought we would be taking it down after a couple of months,” Stafford says. “Unfortunately it's pretty popular."
The site allows former Alltel / Verizon employees to network face to face through meetings. Trying to match employers with a growing number of job-seekers
"We've all been through it," Stafford says. “We don’t provide financial support, but we do provide emotional and mental support to get you ready for what’s next.”
After nine years at the same job, it's something Hobbs and other former Verizon employees are now facing.
"Monday morning, that's probably going to be the hardest for me,” Hobbs says. “Monday morning when I don't have a job to go to, what do I do next?"
Hobbs says she’ll get a paycheck through the end of the year. So she says she'll enjoy the holidays with her family and start looking for a new job.
Verizon says most of the jobs lost Thursday are high paying ones in departments like information technology, marketing and finance.
