Staff Writer

George Nebesnik reported to work at Verizon's Stamford office Thursday morning only to be told he was out of a job.

"I knew something like this could happen, and I knew it was going to be close, but I didn't know for sure until this morning," Nebesnik of Hobart said Thursday afternoon.

The central office technician, 28, was among 2,400 Verizon Communications Inc. workers across the state to lose their jobs Thursday as part of a work force layoff announced by the company in October.

Nebesnik, who had been with the company 21/2 years, was the only Verizon employee in the immediate area to lose his job, said Michael Garry, an area vice president with Communications Workers of America Local 1126.

"There were 23 more from Utica, Rome, Herkimer and Oneida who lost their jobs," Garry said.

Last week's projection of 3,800 layoffs was brought down to 2,400 by early retirements, bringing outsourced work back in-house and the reassessment of some positions, said company officials.

Verizon spokesman Cliff Lee said he couldn't comment on which operations would be hit hardest by the layoffs, which are scheduled to be carried out into next week.

Lee said Verizon employs about 150 people in Otsego County, about 12 workers in Chenango and less than 25 each in Delaware and Schoharie counties.

As of Thursday, Lee said, the company had no plans for further layoffs. He said those employees who were laid off would be the first to be hired back if the company were to experience growth.

A Rapid Response Team from the state's unemployment office was put together to offer re-training and other employment options with those area employees who were let go, Garry said.

Verizon, which has 46,000 employees in New York, including its wireless division, had blamed tight competition from traditional, cellular and cable modem services, and the poor health of the telecommunications industry as some of the reasons for the reductions.

Lee said Verizon offered the unions a proposal in November to avoid immediate layoffs. The deal called for wage freezes and some reduction in work hours.

Union leaders responded with a request for 25 percent pay increases and added vacation time, he said.

"We waited for them to come back with a more realistic offer, but it seemed like they weren't serious about discussing this," Lee said.

Garry said the company's offer was ridiculous.

"The offer they came to us with would have put the union and us back to the pre-1960s," said Garry, a Verizon cable slice technician for the Oneonta area. "No matter what we gave or were to agree to, that wouldn't have guaranteed a job to anyone who had under 10 years of service."

Meanwhile, Nebesnik — who had planned a two-week vacation starting next week — said he will instead spend some time relaxing with his family in Maryland before deciding what to do next.

The Associated Press contributed to this story