As a recruiter, I’m often asked about benefit packages offered by certain companies. Over the last year many Fortune 500 companies have made substantive changes to employees’ benefits with most of the changes hurting the workers. We’ve seen many large corporations choose to cut employee benefits whether that be pension, 401(k), or healthcare. Verizon created headlines all the way back in 2005 when they announced they would freeze their pension program. In the years to come many corporations followed suite by moving to defined contribution plans as opposed to defined benefit plans. This trend culminated in General Electric deciding to freeze the largest pension fund in the United States. Other companies like AT&T & Kaiser Permanente have decided to target retiree healthcare benefits in an attempt to cut costs. For Kaiser Permanente, certain employer groups moved from a fully subsidized retiree healthcare plan to a defined subsidy where employees are responsible for the difference if the subsidy is not enough to cover expenses.
Which brings us to Verizon. By mid-March of 2020, 115,000 of Verizon’s 135,000 employees had made a rapid switch to working remotely. Once some of the dust had cleared from the initial shock of COVID-19, Verizon, like countless other corporations, seized the opportunity to restructure and cut costs. New retail patterns suggested that consumers were comfortable shopping for Verizon’s products online, which dampened the need for retail operations and the people who work there.
Verizon has been able to avoid some of the major layoffs other companies have had to endure as a result of COVID-19, only reducing headcount by 2,800 as opposed to AT&T’s reduction of nearly 17,000. However, Verizon has cut 45,500 over the past five years and as they continue to restructure and adapt to a new environment the cuts may continue, including employee healthcare. To get a better look at what a healthcare cut at Verizon might look like, let’s take a closer look at AT&T’s recent cuts.
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AT&T stated in a Memo that they will be reducing benefits in 2021 and 2022. Employees retiring after 2022 will be hit the hardest, as they will lose all medical coverage typically given to retirees. AT&T will no longer supplement monthly premiums for medical or dental.
This announcement comes on the heels of AT&T alerting employees that they will no longer offer a Healthcare reimbursement account for those who retired after January 1st 2021. Currently things like out of pocket costs, supplemental coverage, and incremental coverage are covered by a healthcare reimbursement account from AT&T. According to AT&T’s Summary Plan description the HRA credit is worth $2,700 for an employee and $1,500 for an eligible dependent. If an employee takes full advantage of this benefit this would be worth $4,200 per year. Over a 20 year period this could save an employee and their family about $84,000.
AT&T is not the only company to cut benefits during the pandemic. History shows time and time again that when a recession hits corporations will decrease or suspend benefits. We witnessed this in the 2001 recession when General Motors, Charles Schwab, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, & Ford all decreased or suspended their company match programs. The same happened in 2008, with Forbes reporting that nearly 20% of companies with over 1,000 employees reduced or suspended 401(k) contributions. Unfortunately, that trend seems to be continuing in the wake of the current recession brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic. According to CNBC, 8% of employers have reduced or suspended 401(k) contributions in this year alone. Major companies like Amtrak, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, and ExxonMobil have all suspended their 401(k) matching programs.
Sources:
Santone, Angela. “AT&T: Updates to Your Retirement Benefits.” AT&T Memo, AT&T Inc., 15 Dec. 2020
“The Retirement/Transition Guide for Verizon Employees.” The Retirement Group, The Retirement Group, 4 Sept. 2020, https://telecom.theretirementgroup.com/verizon-guide-download-google
AT&T Nonbargained Summary Plan Description, 2020
Lacurci, Greg. “Covid Pandemic Led Thousands of Businesses to Slash 401(k) Contributions.” CNBC, 17 Dec. 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/17/covid-pandemic-led-thousands-of-businesses-to-slash-401k-contributions.html
Tretina, Kat. “What To Do If Your Employer Suspends 401(k) Matching Contributions.” Forbes, Forbes, 10 Apr. 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/04/10/covid-19-employers-suspending-401k-matching-contributions/#7a48068b285f.
Witkowski, Mark. “US telecoms see opportunity to cut jobs, boost profits in pandemic.” WSWS.org, International Committee of the Fourth International, 1 Jun. 2020, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/01/telc-j01.html
Morris, Iain. “AT&T and Verizon have cut 95K jobs in five years.” Light Reading, Informa PLC, 28 Jan. 2021, lightreading.com/aiautomation/atandt-and-verizon-have-cut-95k-jobs-in-five-years/d/d-id/766984
Allevan, Monica. “Verizon shifts retail jobs, offers severance to some employees.” Fierce Wireless, Questex, 22 Jan. 2021, https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/verizon-shifts-retail-jobs-offers-severance-to-some-employees
