Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

Companies want a young diverse work force

If you are mid 40s or later, and a white male, the job market is not looking to hire you. Regardless of what the news says, companies are not so desperate to hire an old white guy. I took a package in 2016 to leave. I am an early 50s white guy. No luck finding a replacement job at anything near the wage I was making even though my skills are current and I continue to update. Lucky for me my kids are grown, my home is paid for, and I have no debt. If I had to do it all over again I would have stayed and kept looking for new opportunities to hang on at VZ or found a replacement job before leaving. Maybe you take the Infosys offer suspecting that you will eventually get laid off, but maybe it does work out and you will make a descent salary in the mean time.

If you are an old white guy and ready to leave, I would recommend keeping your job until you find a replacement. Don't let a package tempt you because once you are unemployed it is not likely you will find a job quick, and the offers you do get will be for less than $50k a year. Companies want a young diverse work force and old white guys are usually excluded from their search regardless of skill set.

This was posted by @VDSpRYR-1zpj, I thought more people should read it before making their decision.

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| 3755 views | | 16 replies (last October 18, 2018) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+VGfIYu1

16 replies (most recent on top)

Agreed @1pri! Lean six sigma is the foundation!!!

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Post ID: @1qjl+VGfIYu1

There’s no way LSS, at least upper certified LSS, can be released in too great a number.

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Post ID: @1pri+VGfIYu1

“Companies want a young diverse work force.” -OP

Hey, OP, ever hear of an oxymoron?

If only the young are allowed to partcipate, then it’s not abiding true diversity.

Replace “young” in your statement with any other grouping word (prorestant, white, Spanish...) and perhaps you will come to recognize the blindness you possess regarding your own bias.

Why is age bias the lone bias that’s fair game, even to otherwise practitioners of fairness?

And, ironically enough, unlike other catagorizations, the majority of people, even those pushing this biased agenda, will one day belong to the very group that they now so disdain.

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Post ID: @1hvb+VGfIYu1

: @VGfIYu1-gwd don't undersell the breadth of our outsourcing. Five call centers in the Philippines, one in Jamaica, one in the Dominican republic, and two in India. Young, check - Diverse, check.

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Post ID: @zcp+VGfIYu1

well that might be true, but look at some of our centers like Manila. They are younger and itching to move within company's for better pay and benefits. So while the young makes sense they don't stick around long enough to get the cheap labor out of them, especially after they are trained.

There is so much turnover offshore that its hard to keep the teams motivated or even current. The ones in the US, don't want to do the work or deal with customers especially in a highly technical group. You cant get on a phone call with a customer and start the conversation with "what up", whats the issue....younger is perceived but not necessarily cheaper or smarter. There are student right out of college asking for 60k + in the technical fields and getting it, because they are hipper and mold able. So if they are around within a few years they are comparable $$ to some being asked to take the package. It really makes no sense,

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Post ID: @gwd+VGfIYu1

we hired a guy in his late 20's not that long ago

He's really good at text messaging.

Never makes an effort to ask if he can help out or anything like that. Since I'm not his manager, not much for me to say about it.

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Post ID: @zhi+VGfIYu1

Positing that erhno-tribal identity "Trump's" competence somehow is the excuse of the inept. If Verizon was the only company that valued your pasty posterior then maybe the reality is you lack value - the free market is the arbiter.

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Post ID: @ilx+VGfIYu1

No matter when you go "take the buyout or get riffed" the end result is the same, the goal behind the buyout is to get rid of long term "highly paid" workers. So trying to stick around and find another position in the company would probably be a waist of time for those who fall in the category they're targeting. If you don't have advanced skills "security, data science, cloud computing, programming" on top of a background in networking you will be hard pressed to find a solid position in the new VZ "basically your living on borrowed time" Finding a new position may be a little tough when you leave the company but if your skill set it aligned with what employers are looking for you should have no problem meeting or exceeding what you make/made at VZ. So many people get comfortable in a position that they become complacent, neglecting to keep enhance their skill set & when they are faced with a situation like this on they are worried about finding a new job. The fact is so many employees have been with the company so long "10,15, 20 yrs" that their pay far exceeds what the market dictates for their position - for those employees, yes you will more than likely see a significant cut in pay "for non technical & some general technical roles" but this should come as no shock: if it took you 15 yrs to make 80k at VZ doing some menial job, you can't expect to make that once you go to another company "it's possible but not very likely"

This is not the end of the world, just a change in times & technology - similar to when our country shifted from an industrial work force to a technical workforce. With all shifts, you re-tool, re-train and move forward. Best of luck!

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Post ID: @aaa+VGfIYu1

I have worked with id--ts from all sorts of different backgrounds. Stupidity sees no color!

Trust in your skill set and you'll be fine. It's a bad habit to point your finger at everything else around. Figure out the market and where you stand with your skill set. This is a tough decision. GLA!

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Post ID: @yus+VGfIYu1

the obvious question to the OP is what is your skill set and certifications?

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Post ID: @kqf+VGfIYu1

OP - this is a poor post and slanted view of the world. White, black, or any shade in between ... if you have the skill set companies will hire you. Yes, diversity is important, but do you realize the percentage of white males in most organizations?? We need to learn how to RESPECT each other no matter what background, ethnicity, or skin color one is.

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Post ID: @oqo+VGfIYu1

“Every Recruiter and head hunter I've spoken with has told me ”

My first thought when I read this was that of course they’d say that they are always in sales mode.

You mentioned that it depends on the area you live in but asp on what you’ll take and what area you know. Recruiters and head hunters sometimes have to deal with the robotic applicant process.

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Post ID: @xoj+VGfIYu1

Infosys tactic to have white American in their company for the immigration and government purposes for their visa issues etc. Indians itself cant stand with Infosys. Good luck with your decision guys.

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Post ID: @yik+VGfIYu1

@pbe, which it skills?

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Post ID: @uvi+VGfIYu1

Every Recruiter and head hunter I've spoken with has told me finding a job with my IT skills won't be an issue and I'm 55 and white. It just depends on the area you live in.

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Post ID: @pbe+VGfIYu1

Sounds like a good game plan.

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Post ID: @jzo+VGfIYu1

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