Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

@H9grvkI-qeq "Steve Jobs famously said, when asked how he knew what customers wanted, that they would know as soon as he told them. It's not about you - it's about the almighty dollar. Harsh, but true."

And that's where Lowell differs from Jobs. Lowell doesn't even know what the hell the customers want. Apple has had many home runs over the past 2 decades while Lowell has had nothing but whiffs since he's been CEO. If he were the CEO of Apple he would be more like Spindler and Amelio and we know how their tenures were. Not good. People want FiOS and FiOS will retain them as long as the prices are competitive.

Not sure what part of "low ROI" is hard to understand. "FiOS is not low ROI it's actually a money maker but takes a longer time to get in the black." "i also dont understand that "low return on investment" deal. if it costs x to put fios,over time you will recoup the money spent and you begin making money on it as long as we keep the customers." It's obvious that the extended amount of time necessary to recoup the investment and make money is the primary reason FiOS is low ROI. And you have to keep the customers. Apparently the fickleness of customers constantly shopping for the lowest price and changing services like they change their socks makes it more difficult to make as much money as they would like, or anywhere near the return on other investments. If it was a money-maker for the company, they would do it. What company do you know that cares about the customer so much that they are willing to sacrifice profits to make the customer happy?

Wake up. Lowell's job as chairman of the board - and the board's job for that matter - is to maximize shareholder wealth. That's what these guys get paid for, like the every other public company. If doing that makes customers happy, or if keeping them happy will do that, then they will worry about customer happiness. Otherwise they will look to increase the bottom line. This should come as no surprise to anyone. If you think that any of them really care about what the customer wants, you're living in a dream world, like the unions. Steve Jobs famously said, when asked how he knew what customers wanted, that they would know as soon as he told them. It's not about you - it's about the almighty dollar. Harsh, but true.

And that's where @H9grvkI-kdd is wrong. FiOS is not low ROI it's actually a money maker but takes a longer time to get in the black. Cheap wireless technologies are short term gains but don't satisfy the customers because no one really wants it. If they could hire immigrants everywhere to build out FiOS while getting customers already signed up they'd be dropping fiber like it's no tomorrow. Instead, the labor and material costs will cause little blips in their earnings and that would make the Wall St leeches mad so they don't do it.

i also dont understand that "low return on investment" deal. if it costs x to put fios,over time you will recoup the money spent and you begin making money on it as long as we keep the customers.

key is the company needs to keep the customers. company needs to focus on the customers. we work for the customers. fios started over 11 years ago in jersey. im sure they recovered the money initially invested in those towns and paid for expansion into others.

problem is the suits in basking ridge only think about quarters. there's no long term thinking because there is no incentive to do so.

i swear if i had a penny for every person that said "How many people still have a landline into their house?", lowell would be mad at me for making more money than he does.

landline includes fios. people still have home phones connected to their home alarm systems. people still watch tv at home and people still get on the internet at home with tablets and laptops. people still play video games at home. people have security cameras that connect to the home's wi-fi.

people that still have copper lines with dsl at home are being robbed by verizon cause they have paid fees on their bills over all these years with the hopes that one day verizon would come into their town and replace the copper lines with fiber optic ones. verizon has turned their back on these people and refused to upgrade the network for them. in most cases,people just get frustrated and just cancel their services and go get a triple play from the cable company.

people want fios instead of the product that cable tv offers but the dipshits in basking ridge are too afraid of becoming blockbuster to realize that the wireless data plan caps stifle consumer usage and when people go home,they switch to another product of ours that they use or could use.

build out fios. lowell should of never been ceo of this company.

I wish they had put some into FiOS - I still can't get it, even though my neighbors 2 blocks away can. But it's a loser for the company; high investment, low ROI. Not a surprise they chose not to invest in it. Lousy PR move, but maybe smart business move. And the rest of wireline is even worse from an ROI perspective. So I wouldn't expect them to invest much in it either. Not good news for the union.

Verizon had contracts they did not fulfill for FIOS in many states, losing potential growth and revenue . I would have put my money in the expansion of FIOS. Union members are trying to hold on to what they have. What you call doing well is what a lot of EWA's are experiencing now, working 6-7 days a week ,12hr days to make that money.

"Workers in the company’s Verizon Wireless unit are not represented by a union and make far less; Verizon is far more interested in investing in this portion of its business than its legacy landline and cable businesses." This quote makes it sound like Verizon is more interested in the non-union business because it is non-union. But the facts say something else: wireline (union) accounts for about 30% of total revenue, but less than 10% of net income, and dropping every year. Where would you put your money? It's a dying technology, and they've already sold off most of their wireline assets across the country. They could afford to be a lot more generous with all of their employees, but it seems likely that if their is any generosity, it's going to be shown to the division that makes all that money, and it's not the wireline business.

Union workers are doing very well, no matter how they try to spin it. And the reference to Verizon creating a "sweatshop environment" is hyperbole at best, and more than a little insulting to everyone who actually endured sweatshop conditions. I don't blame the unions for wanting to hold onto what they have, but good luck with that in the face of the changing technology and habits of consumers. How many people still have a landline into their house? How many of the strikers? I'll bet they all have cell phones. Change is inevitable; choosing to adapt is a choice. Fighting to keep a "slice of the pie" - which is getting smaller by the minute may be noble, but it may also be pointless very soon.

“When Verizon workers walked off the job in 2000, there were eighty-five thousand workers striking, and they represented the main part of Verizon’s business. In sixteen years, the number of unionized workers has fallen by more than half. And it’s worth noting that a customer-service agent who makes north of sixty thousand at Verizon would make closer to thirty-six thousand on the company’s wireless side, according to the job site Glassdoor.”

So...if you happen to be in wireless,I'm the problem because I'm union and I get a better wage and benefits? I think it's time you wireless folks start thinking about things. I'm pretty sure the amount that you would pay in dues would be a steal compared to the higher pay and benefits you would recieve. This isn't about me dropping down to your level,it's about you coming up to mine because when you earn more,you save more. You spend more. You afford more. You experience more.

And as a little historical perspective, the wireless venture was started with bell atlantic and vodaphone airtouch. The wireline supported the creation and naturally the technology grew because there was a demand and a need. The money poured in and if the wireless people had a spine,they would of banded together and demanded a slice of that pie. ...but they didnt.

So here we are today,where I'm trying to fight for my slice of the pie but you over there with the crumbs wants to shame me in wanting to do so. I'm not lowering my standards just because you won't raise yours.

I'll see you guys at the customers house. The ones I talk to everyday,fix their troubles and install the products they want from us. Remember first and foremost, our paychecks are made possible by our customers.

All true. The most accurate article I have read on the strike thus far.