Commitment Seen in Hiring, Culturally-Relevant Content and Cutting Edge Technology

April 2, 2007
Via BUSINESS WIRE

Verizon Wireless? commitment to diversity is visible. From hiring large numbers of bilingual and Latino employees, to providing services and mobile applications in Spanish, Verizon Wireless demonstrates its commitment to serving southern California?s growing Latino population through its people, services and products.

Locally, 34% of the company?s customer service employees at its Irvine call center are Latino and those who are bilingual see the difference in their paychecks: they earn $1,500 more a year because of their bilingual skills. In addition, over 40% of retail stores in southern California are staffed with bilingual personnel, mostly Latinos. In some company stores, the percentage of bilingual employees reaches 50%.

?And we make sure our sales and customer service employees are trained not just to succeed in their job, but also to build a career with the company,? says John Palmer, regional president of Verizon Wireless. ?For the sixth consecutive year we?ve been named to Training magazine?s 2007 list of ?Top 125 Training Organizations in America.?? Recognized for its training and development programs, Verizon Wireless was the highest ranked wireless company on the list, placing No. 4 this year, up from No. 6 last year.

As part of its commitment to Latino customers, Verizon Wireless continues to add new and exciting Latin content at its popular Get it Now® virtual store including ringtones, ringback-tones, games and exclusive V CAST music-on-demand selections including Shakira, RBD, Alejandro Sanz and more. For traveling, Verizon Wireless offers door-to-door voice navigation in English and Spanish through VZ NavigatorSM. Parents wanting to teach Spanish to their children can take advantage of offerings like Plaza Sésamo on their V CAST-enabled phones. Sports and entertainment offerings, such as Fox Sports News and Sí TV, are just a few among the ever-growing list of products to please Latino tastes.

Offering the latest technology is equally important, since bilingual Latinos are the heaviest Verizon Wireless users of new mobile services and products such as music, text messaging, games. In addition, they often choose the newest wireless devices to take advantage of the latest mobile services.