VERIZON RETAINS AND RETRAINS ITS 135,000 EMPLOYEES DESPITE COVID

Verizon hasn't laid off any of its 135,000 employees during the pandemic. Instead, the company has retrained around 20,000 workers for new careers.

It's part of Verizon's responsible business plan announced Tuesday. Dubbed Citizen Verizon, the plan includes a pledge to prepare 500,000 mostly lower-wage people for jobs of the future by 2030 through skills training and job advancement tools. While it's an expensive endeavor as other companies cut costs — millions of Americans are now collecting unemployment because of the unprecedented health crisis — Verizon chose to focus on retraining workers, CEO Hans Vestberg told CNN Business in an exclusive interview with Matt Egan.

"Verizon, as a large corporation, needs to take actions and be responsible here," said Vestberg, who became CEO two years ago, later adding, "Large corporations have far bigger impacts than governments even, sometimes. We feel that responsibility as a corporation."

The retraining programs will aim to teach vulnerable populations — especially those whose jobs are threatened by automation — digital skills and provide the mentorship needed to thrive in the modern economy. Verizon said the focus will be on lower-wage workers, including those who work in factories, restaurants and as drivers. There will be an emphasis on young, Black and Hispanic workers who have not gone to college.