NO LOVE AT VERIZON MEDIA (UPDATED)

DECEMBER 11, 2019 VERIZON MEDIA TO LAY OFF 150 EMPLOYEES

Verizon Media has announced the layoffs of 150 employees as it struggles to find its way as a content platform and creator.

According to a company spokesperson, "Our goal is to create the best experiences for our consumers and the best platforms for our customers. Today we are investing in premium content, connections and commerce experiences that connect people to their passions and continue to align our resources to opportunities where we feel we can differentiate ourselves and scale faster.”

JANUARY 24, 2019 — LAYOFF COUNT INCREASED BY 250 EMPLOYEES

Following the company-wide buyouts in December 2018, the company announced a reduction in headcount of 7-percent or approximately 800 employees.

According to a company official, Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan, “These were difficult decisions, and we will ensure that our colleagues are treated with respect and fairness, and given the support they need. I want to be clear that we will continue to scale, launch new products and innovate. We are an important part of Verizon ... Now is the time to go on the offensive, go deep on our big priorities and do everything we can to advance the business.” Oath has now been re-branded to Verizon Media

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018: MANAGEMENT CHANGE AT THE TOP

Oath’s CEO Tim Armstrong will be turning the CEO position to K. Guru Gowrappan on October 1, 2018, but will remain as a consultant to year end.

In addition to restructuring, there appears to be an internal fight over using data from Verizon’s customers to enhance Oath’s advertising business. Personally, I do not want my Verizon calls used to provide targeted advertising. Especially with behavioral scientists developing the capabilities to define, describe, and motivate behavior based on call, search, or tweet patterns.

Original Post…

Oath, the subsidiary of Verizon Communications’ Media and Telematics division, that serves as the umbrella organization for acquisitions such as AOL, Yahoo, and the Huffington Post has announced that they were laying off approximately 550 employees to “further align our global organization to our 2018 roadmap.” This comes after the 2,100 layoffs following the acquisition of Yahoo in June, 2017. The name Oath was chosen because it “represents the commitment we’ve made to building brands and it honors the promises we make to each other, our partners, clients and the world every day.” Notice that there is no mention of a commitment to employees. As with all mergers and acquisitions, there will be redundant functions and personnel that mandate departmental closures and layoffs. One reason to closely monitor the financial health, competition, and acquisition potential of your organization.

There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT CENTEGRA HEALTH SYSTEM

Another health organization has announced mass layoffs after a major multi-million dollar loss for the year.

According to published reports, Centegra Health System plans to redress its $52.3 million loss for the recently ended fiscal year by laying off approximately 131 support and administrative workers.

In addition to layoffs, it will be outsourcing another 230 jobs to nThrive which already runs the business and IT operations at Centegra. This should come as no surprise to anyone observing the domestic outsourcing trend to avoid legal entanglements with personnel by employing an independent intermediary as a.buffer between an organization and its personnel. 

Of course, management had plausible reasons for the losses other than, of course, a failure in leadership: opening a new facility, more Medicare and Medicare patients, and billing adjustments and other write-offs.

Centegra CEO Michael Eesley wrote in an employee memo: “The difficult decision to balance our workforce through a reduction will ensure our health system is financially viable for years to come. While this day marks a major step toward financial improvements, it brings change for people in a number of positions."

It would be no surprise if this was some form of pre-merger tuning and preparing the stage to remove duplicative services without major legal or procedural hassles as it has been reported that Centegra is still working to finalize an affiliation or merger agreement with Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine. The deal expected to close in 2018 is said to involve no money and there are no details in potential changes in management.

Employees should add the use of local outsourcing of organizational functions to their list of continuing employment red flags.