Verizon Wireless eliminates 800 positions

(Telephony) Continuing on a path that will lead to the integration of all its wireless properties, eight-month-old Verizon Wireless has eliminated 800 positions, some of which are vacant, said a Verizon Wireless spokesman.

“This is just part of getting our organization and management structure in place and has no relation to the economics of the company,” he said.

The announcement includes consolidating the carrier’s seven geographic regions--created by the properties of GTE Wireless, Bell Atlantic and AirTouch Cellular--into four.

This is the third or fourth internal restructuring--though the company chose not to make public announcements in previous instances--since Verizon Wireless was created, the spokesman said.

Though this change will affect the largest number of employees, the spokesman maintained that a loss of less than 800 jobs in a workforce of 40,000 is not that significant. Most of the jobs eliminated were at the management level. The company expects to complete the transition in the next month and a half.

“We are getting a fairly positive reaction from employees, and those that are affected were not shocked,” the spokesman said. With this, the carrier believes it can move more quickly in the competitive wireless market, he added.