It’s hard to identify a villain or a victim in the announcement this week that Verizon will move 1,000 jobs out of the area. As with most business transactions, there will be winners and losers. But for the most part, it’s just business.

The move is not being made out of financial distress, far from it. In all four quarters of 2013, Verizon reported year-over-year, double-digit growth and an after-tax profit of $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter alone. The company has 180,000 employees worldwide.

Verizon spokeswoman Carolyn Schamberger emphasizes the move is a realignment of employees, not a reduction. Verizon has call centers nationwide with thousands of empty seats. The company decided to consolidate the workers and close a few call centers, including the one in a leased building at Cranberry Woods business park, along with a couple of executive office buildings and a telesales department in Warrendale.

The disclosure was sudden. Individual employees said the news caught them by surprise. However, the realignment is effective May 8 — nearly three months away — giving workers plenty of time to consider their options. The 600 call center workers are being offered jobs at their choice of 22 other customer care centers across the United States, or at any Verizon retail store. The telesales and executive-level workers have similar options.

And Verizon is offering incentives, Schamberger says, adding Verizon wants to keep these highly trained employees on the payroll. The company is offering $10,000 payments to employees willing to relocate; the unwilling will get multimonth severance deals.

To Verizon’s credit, the call center jobs are not being outsourced to other countries — but that’s no solace for those whose jobs are leaving and, for whatever reason, they’re unwilling or unable to relocate.

Township officials say it’s painful to see an employer take jobs elsewhere, but they’re confident another business will fill the vacancy soon. And the current jobless rate of 5.3 percent — Butler County’s lowest in several years — softens the blow of lost jobs.

Given the circumstances, it’s hard to argue with the assessment of township manager Jerry Andree: “We know the building there will be quickly gobbled up by another company,” Andree says. “Companies come and companies go, and we understand that. But we’re sad to see them go.”