Citing last year’s purchase of Alltel as the reason, Verizon is closing four call centers.
The call centers are located in Longview, Texas, Toledo, Ohio suburb Maumee, Shreveport, La., and Virginia Beach, Va. A story by the Associated Press didn’t say how many employees were affected by the closings, but The Toledo Free Press said that 235 employees work at the call center in Maumee, which is closing in April.
A Verizon spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the addition of Alltel left the company with excess capacity. Verizon will be offering the employees other jobs, along with relocation and severance packages.
According to an online story by Minnesota Public Radio, Qwest is closing two of its four call centers. A Qwest spokeswoman told the Associated Press that a call center in Pueblo, Co. will close in March and that there were “limited opportunities” for the 75 employees there to transfer to Iowa or Utah.
The call center in Duluth, Minn. will close Feb. 5 and has 52 employees.
