CRANBERRY TWP — Verizon Wireless today announced to employees that it will close the customer contact centers in Cranberry and Warrendale effective May 2014.

About 1,000 jobs will be lost.

Three other centers across the United States also will be closed.

These jobs will be relocated to other centers with vacant space.

About 1,000 customer service employees in Cranberry and Warrendale will be encouraged to apply for other local positions or to relocate to another of the company’s 26 customer contact centers with a relocation assistance package of $10,000 in after-tax dollars, according to a company news release.

Employees who want to visit another contact center will be offered $500 to defray travel costs.

Eligible employees unable to relocate or who do not secure other positions with the company will be offered separation packages and outplacement help.

In Cranberry, about 600 customer service positions in the contact center will relocate to one of the customer contact centers, including one in Hilliard, Ohio, facility. About 40 noncustomer facing employees will relocate to the remaining Warrendale facility, the release states.

In Warrendale, about 200 telesales employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to the company’s other telesales locations in Tampa, Fla., Rancho Cordova, Calif., or Orangeburg, N.Y.

About 230 business and government account support positions will relocate to Hilliard, Ohio, Hanover, Md., or Alpharetta, Ga.

The company will maintain its Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virginia Regional Headquarters in Warrendale with about 340 employees in sales, finance, information technology, marketing, human resources and other departments.

The contact center consolidations are part of a national realignment to fill vacant space and make better use of the company’s facilities.

Nationwide, about 3,000 employees will need to seek other positions locally, relocate with company assistance to similar positions among the contact centers, or accept a separation package. Another 2,200 employees are transferring to other offices within driving distance.