The Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Business Tami Erwin posted on LinkedIn today that after 35 years with the company, she plans to leave at the end of this year.
Erwin began her career at Verizon as a customer service representative. “From the start, I’ve been privileged to take on leadership roles with more and more responsibility - from Wireless Sales to CMO, from Wireline Operations to COO of Wireless. And of course, now leading Verizon Business,” she wrote.
Erwin’s announcement follows a couple of other high-profile executive departures recently.
In December 2021, Ronan Dunne, who was CEO of Verizon’s Consumer Group at the time, announced he was leaving the company. His announcement coincided with the news that Manon Brouillette would take over the position.
Dunne, who worked at Verizon for more than five years, has continued a relationship with the company as a strategic advisor. He’s also since taken on the role of chairman of Six Nations Rugby.
Perhaps these two high-profile departures don’t mean anything other than the fact that after 35 to 40 years, many people feel like retiring from corporate jobs. And both Dunne and Erwin were highly compensated during their careers, so they now can have the time to enjoy their wealth.
Recon Analytics principal Roger Enter gushed about Erwin. He said, “She combines great vision with excellent execution. Her Verizon business group is about 20% of the company, and yet typically brings in like half if not more of the gains," he said. "It’s become like a mantra quarter after quarter.”
He said this is especially impressive because Verizon Business has been regularly losing hundreds of thousands of lines to AT&T’s FirstNet.
“Her group starts in the hole each quarter, and she still does well,” said Entner. In terms of who will fill her role, he said, “She’s leaving really big shoes. I’m sure AT&T and T-Mobile are celebrating with her — for the opposite reason.”
In terms of Verizon Consumer Group, Entner said it’s had hits and misses over the last few years. He said Dunne “left a stuttering Verizon consumer group; they’re losing customers, they’re falling behind. Verizon has lost accounts and barely held steady with lines.”
Sanyogita Shamsunder
There has been one other top executive departure at Verizon recently. Sanyogita Shamsunder, formerly Verizon’s VP of Product Strategy and Operations, left the company to join Google as head of Global Network Edge. She had been with Verizon for 15 years.