Toledo, Ohio-based Buckeye Broadband, a regional telecommunications company and provider of high speed fiber internet, cable TV, and home phone packages, has announced plans to outsource a portion of their call center to a third-party business process providere.
Approximately 100 employees will be impacted.
According to President Geoff Shook...
Good afternoon.
Over the last several months, we have been charged with the responsibility of building a budget for 2025 as well as multiple projections for 2026, 2027, 2028 and even as far out as 2029. This has been difficult, to say the least. As all are aware, 2024 has been a challenging year both from a customer acquisition and retention perspective as well as a financial perspective.
We will end the year with a loss of 23k RGU's which includes over 17k just from our HSD base. It is the size of this loss and the accompanying financial implications that has required we rethink every aspect of our business. Everything from our Promotional Strategy, our Construction and Plant Extension Strategy, our Fiber Upgrade Strategy, our Technical Fulfillment Strategy as well as our Call Center Strategy.
It is with this as the backdrop that I need to share an upcoming change in the manner we handle our inbound calls.
Effective April l, 2025, at 12:00 am, we will begin outsourcing a portion of our calls to a 3rd party call center. Billing, Payment, Change of Service, and all remaining Brainiac 1 and Brainiac 2 calls will no longer be answered
here. What that means is those team members who handle these types of calls as well as the supervision of these types of answered calls last day of employment will be March 31, 2025.
Sales, Retention, Outbound and Brainiac Tier 3 Advanced Technical Support are not impacted, and those calls will continue to be answered here with the appropriate management and supervision.
I know this is a difficult and stunning development. I will say that the decision was not made flippantly or callously without considering every conceivable possibility. Yet, after all the review imaginable, this is the only path forward.
I understand this is upsetting and there will be a host of questions. HR will be following up this afternoon with a letter to the affected team members. As we get further down the path, HR will also conduct a series of one-on-one conversations to further explain the severance opportunities should the impacted employees work through March 31st.
You are probably wondering why this announcement is being shared right now, so close to the New Year. There is no good time to share this type of information. My rationale is to inform early so to assist you in possible
upcoming decisions. Some of you may have picked up ''Side Gig's'' during the holidays. With this knowledge, you may want to maintain those positions. Secondly, unlike many companies who strategically wait until the
very last minute to announce decisions like this, I wanted to provide you with as much time as possible to look for alternative opportunities to minimize the potential impact if you so choose.
If you decide to work through March 31, 2025, we will provide a severance as well as all the standard ''treatments'' that are typically presented when employment ends, and appropriate notice is provided. The specifics of the
severance will be discussed one-on-one with HR.
Finally, I need to address the possibility of negative reactions and actions taken regarding this announcement.
As I noted earlier, there is no good time nor easy way to make this announcement. My goal today was to respectfully notify you early so to provide you with time for your exploration of options. My instinct is some of you will react in a manner contrary to the respectful way I am attempting to address this with you. Should one of those reactions be to simply walk away and stop performing the assigned job, that action will be considered your
resignation without proper notice. With that action (as per company policy), you will waive any severance opportunity as well as unused vacation time.
Secondly, as painful as this announcement may be to you, it is not carte blanch for anyone to take their frustration out on our customers. As has been well communicated and enforced previously, we have a zero-tolerance policy for rudeness with our customers. Please do not react in an unprofessional manner with our customers. My expectation is we will all continue to treat our customers politely and professionally; that we will all continue to do our jobs to the best of our ability. As has been our practice,
rude and disrespectful behavior expressed to our external customers, our internal customers or our stake holders will be addressed immediately and will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Finally, please accept this reminder. This is not an empowerment moment to apply unjustifiable credits to the bills of customers, acquaintances, family members, friends or to your own account. As has been our practice, this type of action will be considered theft and will also result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
I completely understand there may be anger, confusion, disappointment, fear, and even bewildennent. I do not like this path either. However, our losses this year and the projected time (years) it will take us to recover and
rebound has driven this decision. I am sorry we've reached this point, but I see no other way forward. More details are to come as to the specifics of the severance opportunities. My request is we continue to do our jobs to the best of our ability.
Again, thank you for your time and attention to this message.
Geoff Shook, President & General Manager
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?
