I am a stable person, but I could have reached across and throttled that vs puppet when they told me my position was eliminated! I know, It's a job! We spent the majority of our waking lives for the company and don't realize how much it is part of who we are. I am 2 weeks from that day where I was lied to and severed to save a directors favorite that would have gone. I floated between hurt, anger, bewilderment and most of all sad and empty. I am still trying to figure out why me, however, "it is what it is". Life goes on and after 3 1/2 decades scratching by and building vz I finally realize that we are all numbers and replaceable. If you are making the top of your band you will be a target. If you have any medical conditions such a MS or Epilepsy, you are a target. The decisions are nothing more than a filter and sort of a spreadsheet. Then the directors get to have their input to settle old vendettas or just plain personality conflicts. This leaves you a bit sad and empty. I am OK, however, I am sure there a those that have or will be suicidal and the company handing them EAP's phone number doesn't cut it. The company and directors are directly responsible for any depression and suicidal behavior. I just had to get this off my chest and am sure there are many on here that feel the same way. Please post and get it off your chest to vent some of those emotions. 75% of your waking life is a huge relationship and you may need help dealing with it. 35 years as a vz slave and now free. My position was eliminated, however, filled by the directors favorite that was on the chopping block. Hang in there everyone and reach out for help if you need it.
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A great book on the subject of loss, and how to deal with it positively: "The Joy of Not Working" by Ernie J. Zelinski...... a must read.
Time passes,,nothing stays the same,things change ,life goes on,its time to turn the page to a new Chapter, I had 35+ yrs w/att and when they said closing office after so many mgrs. left, I knew it was time and I was happy to be finally retiring frm a company that no longer valued me, I took the severance and ran with a grin....GOOD LUCK to those who will be doing the same..
I managed to avoid being RIFd by posting out. My manager kept saying I was safe, but I had a gut feeling it was time to leave. Found out from my new manager that I would have been cut and replaced by someone new. Saw it happen to others....they were told they didn't have a job only to find out their position was back filled. Funny how leadership is becoming a "boys club" again.
I feel your pain. I've been through all the stages of grief over the loss of this job...The five stages, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I knew my number was up as soon as the announcement was made on that fateful webcast Wednesday. It is a loss, a part of your daily routine and life just gone... if you were anything like me, I lived for this job, gave up vacations, holidays, and weekends. We are all going to be just fine!
I'm apparently not programmed like you people, this is just a job, it doesn't define me, or define my success in life. Self worth has nothing to do with work.
to Anonymous201233 ...Been there as I was riffed in feb2015. have your husband go to every online business site you can think of to apply. Flood the market with his resume as you can submit the resume online even if it is just an initial foray into a certain position. Places are hiring. Also, try ziprecruiter.com. There are a lot of job hunting sites out there, but I found ziprecruiter one of the best. GOOD LUCK......There is life after VZ.......
Wow, folks, I think a lot of you are missing the point here. This is not just griping about being laid off, it is about a loss of self worth. VzGone has worked in one place for a very long time, and at some point it is more than a job. It is the "tick, tick, tick" of the clock that moves your life. It is about the loss of "your schedule". Your entire life changes, and you question almost everything. Lets show some compassion here. Because it didn't happen to you ( yet ) doesn't mean this isn't a big deal.
I will tell you my story - I was born in a region that had a conflict and I was forced to leave my home. I liked my life prior to the conflict but s*** happened and I had to leave. Came here to the States and started from scratch, I had 200 bucks when I landed here, just married - both me and my wife barely spoke English. Fast forward many years, I have a great life here - it's much better than anything that I could have had if I stayed back home. My kids have great opportunities here and I go to bed every night well fed and knowing that I am safe and that nobody will knock on my door and kick me out. I know, it's a bit extreme, but hopefully that puts things into perspective for some of us. I may get cut this month, maybe next month, but hey - something always comes up and I will be fine. What the war thought me is to stay frugal and think about my 'liquid reserve' - I know that saving is not easy for many of us, but I am hard core about that and it was always my highest priority (from the financial stand point). I am not preaching, each of us is taking a somewhat different path here and each of us affected differently - I am merely sharing my story and my view on the topic.
Those who worked for Verizon for one year can hardly compare their feelings about the RIF to this person who worked there for 35 years. Believe me, if you work somewhere for 35 years, you will be attached and you will define yourself by that job and it will be a huge loss in many ways. Spending 35 years anywhere or with anyone is a long, long time and the separation is a shocking loss. You will go through the grieving process like any other big loss in your life, but you will be OK. (Read about job loss and the grieving process online or -like others have said- seek out counseling to help you through the process.) One day, you may find out that the RIF caused something really good to happen in your life that would never have happened if you were still shackled to Verizon. I read a book once called "I Like The Depression." It was written by a man who lost everything in the Depression in the 1930's. He learned during his time of unemployment that he had really nice neighbors who now had time to talk with and who all pitched in when anyone needed something. He got to know his family members better that he'd been unable to spend much time with before. The point is that good things can come out of bad things that happen.
Wanted to chime in here - be careful when you are posting on the web on topics that include discussions about potential or real harm (or self inflicted harm). If you read the privacy policy here they reserve right to disclose your IP address in cases where they feel a threat to a person or property may exist. I am not saying they will do it, but if someone (e.g., Verizon security) wanted to make sure you are 'safe' this site states that they reserve rights to share your IP Address. Just saying.
15 years senior computer engineer laid off. Had 2 years working crap jobs, waiting tables, Walmart & Best Buy. 10 years network engineer at Blue Cross IT dept. IT dept outsourced early 90s, laid off, More crap jobs. Got job at GTE on west coast. VZ emerged in 2000. Riffed after 10 years in middle of 2007/2008 recession. 2 years house sitter, dog walker, pizza delivery. Contract job working for vz, before again being offered full time position with service bridging. VZ buy vodaphone share of wireless for $130,000,000,000. Riffed. Forgive me but I'm struggling to get my head around just how miserable and unfair it must be to have suffered through decade after decade after decade of full time work?
Don't give the prick the satisfaction.
350 Don't believe anyone is being heartless or harsh maybe some of the junior people that use to work some where else before coming to the big V see things through a different lens. I remember having to pay for medical insurance not having a pension and a 401K. Being let go is not easy BUT after 35 years you should be good. I recently went through a divorce and got crushed financially but with hard work and common sense I have bounced back better then ever so pull your self by your boot straps and solider on!!!!
Divorce or illness can impact savings. You are fortunate if your life has been so perfect. As for the job hunters - some things you might not think of that can help. If you are on Facebook, make a few "nice" pictures public - zoo, 5k, birthday party,pie recipe whatever. Make sure the games, rants, and anything like that are private. Don't be too proud to reach out to old college friends, relatives and friends of relatives, old coworkers, just anyone you can think of. Even if they can't help, it is nice to talk to people instead of sitting there thinking the same thoughts without any new input. If you do have to take a pay cut, think about how much free time you were giving to the company. Here at least the day never really ended and when colleagues took their three week vacation it was nuts. Good luck to you.
A little heart people! Someone who posts about suicide, job loss and illness does not need to be called names and informed they are self absorbed, self pitying and lack common sense. WTF..
Can understand your grief BUT after 35 years you should be doing OK financially unless major medical or other then uncontrollable circumstances. There are people in my group that have been with the company for over 50 years and claim to be broke, common sense is learned not given.......
How can you be so self pitying after continuous employment for more than a third of a century? Sheesh! Self absorbed or what?
How much is the unemployment benifit check? Is it biweekly? How long do they pay?
Vzgone- I am a spouse but I understand. My husband started in the company when he was very young so unlike some others that have been let go, we are just starting our lives even though he had almost 15 years with VZW. We have 2 small children, a mortgage. We have been going through the stages of grief. He has been applying everywhere and in the 3 weeks since 10/29 he hasn't had one call back. We are in panic mode. I know we will get through it but we naively thought his job was safe.
Can you elaborate on the illness / MS angle ? Do you have other cases where that's been apparent ?
I'm currently fighting an employment case with VZ after 16 years I had developed muscular dystrophy and was unfairly RIFd after trying to claim on VZ's long term disability insurance.
From a spouse's perspective I have been worrying about mental duress this has been causing families - alcohol, snappishness, depression. Fortunately things here are pretty good. We already had the "Life goes on" attitude. You only have to look at history, any history, to see that if you have something nice, somebody has a plan to take it away from you. When the last layoff cut really good workers, the alarm bells started going off for us. Reach out to your Doctor if you have a good one and are getting too sad or stressed. They are seeing the results of all of these layoffs and downsizings in their patients and can help you stay well just by understanding the process and how it affects each individual. Best Wishes to everyone in their job search.
I read somewhere that even death can never come close to you while you are alive. Look at the 9 billion people out there. How many of them are better off than you? Less than 1%?
I was riffed on 11/5. I am not mad, neither I have any ill feeling towards Verizon. I think Verizon gave me very honorable exit. I know, it's not me or my lack of anything that I got riffed. It is just because opportunity given to management to get rid of their least favorite and I was on top of his list. This is my opportunity to think something different. I was not able to do this while in the job due to work pressure. Now I am free and I have skill set. Like I am just a number for Verizon, Verizon is also just a company for me. I am again thankful to Verizon for last 11 years of living together.
Moving forward for better tomorrow...
I agree with everyone here. Also, you can't let Verizon define who you are. This actually IS an opportunity, as hard as it is to initially see, but an opportunity to move forward rather than stay in a stagnant company and potentially dead end job. I have heard countless people who have been riffed, all the back from 15 years ago to present day, who have said it was hard at first but ended up being the best thing that could have happened in the end. You have to pick your head up and realize your worth. Verizon is merely 1 conglomerate in the entire universe and certainly not worthy of your loss of life.
I was RIF'd in January and I actually thanked my director for the pleasure of working for her. She was very kind and upfront in the entire process and I learned a lot in the year under her. In fact, she told me it was a shame to lose talent like me. You cant look at VZ with emotion. In fact, I had to hide all emotion as I didnt want to upset my spouse and let them think that there would be any life issues with my RIF. Sure I wanted to be mad, how could they get rid of ME? I had good managers throughout my career there who told me I was nothing but a number to the big machine and dont ever think that any of us were any more than that. Businesses are an emotionless being. The reason that so many get upset about VZ is that it is a large company with a few making all the decisions. Do like I did and get into a small company where you can have input on decision making. You will be amazed at how much more job satisfaction you will have once you get input.
If I can make it 35 years, I'll jump for joy.
I have had coworkers lose their job here in past "transformations" and felt similar to you - now they all have better jobs in great uplifting work environments and all have said its the best thing that ever could have happened to them - i hope you will feel this way in a few weeks/months as well. Keep your head up - VZ does not define you!
It causes me concern when you say:
"This leaves you a bit sad and empty. I am OK, however, I am sure there a those that have or will be suicidal and the company handing them EAP's phone number doesn't cut it."
If those type of demons are weighing on your mind, get help and talk things out. Many people who have entertained similar thoughts, but rejected them, have ended up living very happy lives after the initial disappointment has passed. In the big scheme of things you may one day look at this as a minor blip or even a good thing that led to something more fulfilling, and to a more satisfactory existence. Don't multiply the misery by hurting those who love you by making a rash decision and doing something stupid.
You, and all the others in this situation are in my thoughts and prayers.
Brown noser always seem to win, provide no value but still they win