Vodafone NZ asks more than 2000 staff if they want to take redundancy: Overseas Centres of Excellency Instead

Forums › Vodafone New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone NZ asks more than 2000 staff if they want to take redundancy: Overseas Centres of Excellency Instead

frednz

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#248118 11-Mar-2019 08:25

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/111165245/vodafone-nz-asks-more-than-2000-staff-if-they-want-to-take-redundancy

The article mentions that:

Vodafone NZ currently employs about 2700 staff.

An industry source suggested in December that Vodafone wanted to cut that number by 400, but another now believed the cuts could go deeper.

Chief executive Jason Paris has said he wants to give staff certainty about where they stand by the end of the month.

The restructure is being designed to make Vodafone NZ more attractive to investors ahead of a second attempt by the Vodafone Group to partially float the subsidiary on the NZX next year.

The company's hope is that it can outsource more of the work currently performed by Vodafone in New Zealand to "centres of excellence" that the British-based Vodafone Group has established in other countries.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this article are the comments from the public that follow the article. And yes, Jason Paris himself has taken an active part in these discussions - well worth reading!

Here's a couple of of Jason's comments:

"Hi Kommentator. The changes that we are going through are about creating the freedom to invest more in the areas that we know our customers and our people value the most. We have a fantastic business here in NZ, but It’s true that we still have some work to do. However we have a clear plan that our people believe in and although any organisational change is tough - we are focussed on making the right calls to deliver for our customers. Jason"

"Hi Slinkybambi. Our preference will always be keeping roles in New Zealand and the only times that we will use overseas expertise is when we are confident that it’s the best way to help our customers. It’s true that in some instances that this also means we can reduce costs - which in the main, will be reinvested in new areas that we know our customers value - including new NZ based roles. Cheers Jason"

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#2195496 11-Mar-2019 08:30

Globalisation has been a great thing. The world is a smaller place, we enjoy the ease of buying offshore. This example is no more than that. The obvious argument will be NZ is losing employment opportunities, and while that is correct, we are merely importing a product, such as NZ owned, Chinese made Haier whiteware. Its just the way of the world these days

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frednz

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#2195510 11-Mar-2019 08:40

tdgeek:

Globalisation has been a great thing. The world is a smaller place, we enjoy the ease of buying offshore. This example is no more than that. The obvious argument will be NZ is losing employment opportunities, and while that is correct, we are merely importing a product, such as NZ owned, Chinese made Haier whiteware. Its just the way of the world these days

Many of the comments made by the public on this article are very critical of the proposed restructuring. For example this comment is interesting:

Daboss: "Interesting call to make a company attractive to what I presume would mainly be onshore New Zealand investors by moving services offshore but not unusual these days unfortunately.........will be interesting to see if service improves from a centre of excellence, a few months back I had the odd experience of wanting to move from fibre x to pure fibre now it’s available in my street however I was told in no uncertain terms by a VF CSR that this would not be offered to me (despite VF being listed as a service provider on the broadband checker). I did say that this was a pity given I had been a VF customer (and it’s predecessors) for close on 25 years (dating back to Kiwi Cable for those who remember). But was still told that VF would not provide this service, even when I said I guess I will have to look at other providers then....just got a flat “no”. lucky for VF I’m so busy at present and haven’t got around to finding an alternative but hey, the easiest customer to service is the one you already have VF!"

Now why would Vodafone not permit one of its customers to move to the ultrafast "pure fibre" provided by Chorus? I can't understand why Vodafone would want to maintain its cable network when it has cost a huge amount for Chorus to install ultrafast broadband throughout the country. Why can't Vodafone just abandon its often ugly huge black overhead cables and go with the flow and use the ultrafast Chorus network? Surely this must happen in the long term?

tdgeek

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#2195522 11-Mar-2019 08:53

frednz:

tdgeek:

Globalisation has been a great thing. The world is a smaller place, we enjoy the ease of buying offshore. This example is no more than that. The obvious argument will be NZ is losing employment opportunities, and while that is correct, we are merely importing a product, such as NZ owned, Chinese made Haier whiteware. Its just the way of the world these days

Many of the comments made by the public on this article are very critical of the proposed restructuring. For example this comment is interesting:

Daboss: "Interesting call to make a company attractive to what I presume would mainly be onshore New Zealand investors by moving services offshore but not unusual these days unfortunately.........will be interesting to see if service improves from a centre of excellence, a few months back I had the odd experience of wanting to move from fibre x to pure fibre now it’s available in my street however I was told in no uncertain terms by a VF CSR that this would not be offered to me (despite VF being listed as a service provider on the broadband checker). I did say that this was a pity given I had been a VF customer (and it’s predecessors) for close on 25 years (dating back to Kiwi Cable for those who remember). But was still told that VF would not provide this service, even when I said I guess I will have to look at other providers then....just got a flat “no”. lucky for VF I’m so busy at present and haven’t got around to finding an alternative but hey, the easiest customer to service is the one you already have VF!"

Now why would Vodafone not permit one of its customers to move to the ultrafast "pure fibre" provided by Chorus? I can't understand why Vodafone would want to maintain its cable network when it has cost a huge amount for Chorus to install ultrafast broadband throughout the country. Why can't Vodafone just abandon its often ugly huge black overhead cables and go with the flow and use the ultrafast Chorus network? Surely this must happen in the long term?

I agree that its a pity that they are moving most of their business offshore. But its life. The fibre issue is off topic

antoniosk

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#2195546 11-Mar-2019 09:18

frednz:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/111165245/vodafone-nz-asks-more-than-2000-staff-if-they-want-to-take-redundancy

They are actually asking people to indicate whether they would be interested in taking redundancy, rather than asking 3/4 of the company to leave. If the package they offer is generous enough, then for the longer term employees (10+ years) it could appear beneficial to take the money and go, especially for folks who are tired of the Voda way of working and want to do something new.I imagine all those folks from the acquisitions (if any are left...) would be chafing under the big org Voda has become, and will want to go and setup something new with some voda $$$. Consolidation has removed a lot of choice from the NZ market, we must be overdue for a surge of new little orgs that want NZ customers and will jump through hoops to get them... and now have access to a semi usable wide area fibre network.

So great if you live in Auckland and can jump any of the other telco's, and be attractive enough that the next employer will take you on (skills/age/attitude/fit with org).

I wonder how people would actually feel though if they stuck their hand up and indicated they were interested, only to be turned down but have now alerted the org to their thinking. Why would people do it?

Telecom would go through these conversations every year when I was there and all it did was make people anxious, drove considerable backlash among rank and file, and made people very apathetic to what they were doing.

________

Antoniosk

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#2195561 11-Mar-2019 09:21

To be fair, I don't think I have heard one piece of positive feedback from the Vodafone customers I know, so maybe this might actually help them.

While I certainly don't blame them for this move as a company, obviously as a NZer with an interest in keeping the masses here gainfully employed, it is a shame. But these companies are not run in the interest of society, so they will do what they can to make money. And they are a big multi-national company.

Interesting that it sounds like some in the middle operation are being cut out, rather than the usual front line staff. Also interesting that while the article says that they have asked 2000 staff, it doesn't seem to nail down how many they actually want to cut.

frednz

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#2195620 11-Mar-2019 10:20

ShinyChrome:

To be fair, I don't think I have heard one piece of positive feedback from the Vodafone customers I know, so maybe this might actually help them.

While I certainly don't blame them for this move as a company, obviously as a NZer with an interest in keeping the masses here gainfully employed, it is a shame. But these companies are not run in the interest of society, so they will do what they can to make money. And they are a big multi-national company.

Interesting that it sounds like some in the middle operation are being cut out, rather than the usual front line staff. Also interesting that while the article says that they have asked 2000 staff, it doesn't seem to nail down how many they actually want to cut.

Overall, I've had a positive experience with Vodafone, but I do prefer talking to call centres in New Zealand which are staffed by people I can easily understand. The Vodafone people I have dealt with in overseas call centres are very willing to help, but sometimes they are hard to understand and sometimes they don't always understand the problem, so I have had to ask to speak to a Manager. I doubt whether overseas "centres of excellence" are going to improve customer service for New Zealand customers, but time will tell.

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#2195671 11-Mar-2019 10:32

I'm almost always had positive experiences when I've managed to get through to NZ based staff.. Whereas I've almost never had a positive experience when dealing with the overseas call centers. To me it hasn't been the language barrier which some people gripe about (Filipino English in my experience is generally pretty damn good compared to most other Asian countries and even some low paid NZ call centers), but the seeming inability to deviate from scripts, and no authority to actually _fix_ things (especially but not limited to account/billing/install related issues)

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hio77

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#2195675 11-Mar-2019 10:38

the repeated events do amuse.

I dont think it's overall the worst thing... it's pretty normal for telcos to go through this.

Hopefully Jason has learnt a few things from the run with spark and can use that to have a smoother experience.

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RunningMan

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#2195703 11-Mar-2019 11:06

Lias:[snip] Whereas I've almost never had a positive experience when dealing with the overseas call centers. To me it hasn't been the language barrier which some people gripe about (Filipino English in my experience is generally pretty damn good compared to most other Asian countries and even some low paid NZ call centers), but the seeming inability to deviate from scripts, and no authority to actually _fix_ things (especially but not limited to account/billing/install related issues)

This. When you call about a problem, and they keep asking if there's anything else they can do to help - yes, there is, fix the actual problem I contacted you about! It's why I took business that was going to Vodafone somewhere else.

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#2195707 11-Mar-2019 11:09

Ignoring the globalisation excuse - this is nothing more than cooking the books to make the figures look good immediately before an IPO.

Kiwis are renowned for preferring to talk to kiwis, whether this is xenophobic or racist is an aside - it's a simple fact.

Vodafone already have a piss poor image with most customers, Vodafone regularly come up as the worst telecommunication company in studies and here they are wanting to cut staff even further for no good reason other than make immediate money from an IPO.

Yeah, I am naive but this smacks of desperation and is going to wreak havoc on their staff morale for what appears to be nothing more than corporate greed. Am I wrong?

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#2195723 11-Mar-2019 11:31

tdgeek:

Globalisation has been a great thing. ......

and will force NZ wages and salaries down to the worldwide average . ie : b8gger all
Can it be avoided , in the long term, no .

surfisup1000

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#2195744 11-Mar-2019 11:54

Does it matter? Unemployment is very low by historical standards, employers are screaming out for skilled staff, especially IT staff.

So, this is a great opportunity to do something else and bank a redundancy payout!

Even better, take the redundancy and contract yourself back to the company on 3 times your prior hourly rate.

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#2195766 11-Mar-2019 12:08

tehgerbil:

Ignoring the globalisation excuse - this is nothing more than cooking the books to make the figures look good immediately before an IPO.

Kiwis are renowned for preferring to talk to kiwis, whether this is xenophobic or racist is an aside - it's a simple fact.

Vodafone already have a piss poor image with most customers, Vodafone regularly come up as the worst telecommunication company in studies and here they are wanting to cut staff even further for no good reason other than make immediate money from an IPO.

Yeah, I am naive but this smacks of desperation and is going to wreak havoc on their staff morale for what appears to be nothing more than corporate greed. Am I wrong?

Well said. I have a lot of respect for Jason Paris, but his quotes above strike me as nothing more than PR spin.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the Vodafone customer experience is about to get a whole lot worse.

robjg63

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#2195775 11-Mar-2019 12:20

Seems these companies (Vodafone/Spark - and others) regularly do this:

'Lets save money and shove everything off-shore to India/Philipines etc'

'Customers are saying our support sucks and the the customers are starting to leave'

'Lets set up a NZ based support unit'

'Our customers are happy again'

'I know - lets save some money and shove all the support off-shore and save some money'

rinse and repeat.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

nitro

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#2195783 11-Mar-2019 12:31

Lias:

I'm almost always had positive experiences when I've managed to get through to NZ based staff.. Whereas I've almost never had a positive experience when dealing with the overseas call centers. To me it hasn't been the language barrier which some people gripe about (Filipino English in my experience is generally pretty damn good compared to most other Asian countries and even some low paid NZ call centers), but the seeming inability to deviate from scripts, and no authority to actually _fix_ things (especially but not limited to account/billing/install related issues)

true that. seems to me they don't even try to understand what the problem is... just go with the script:

"have you tried to reboot your router?"

"can you reset your router to factory default?"

"if we send someone to check and find the fault to be on your end, you will be charged $xxx.xx."

-----

i've seen voluntary redundancy rear its ugly head before...a chap who put his hand up was told his role wasn't among those being made redundant and wouldn't get any redundancy payment as a result... he couldn't reconcile having expressed the desire to leave with continuing to work with the same boss, and left anyway.

VF making the call public shouldn't end up with anything similar, but the possibility of a distrust with your employer/boss is still very real...

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