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Verizon Communications is going forward with efforts to cut about 15,000 jobs — which would represent roughly 15 % of its U.S. work force. The cuts are the biggest ever by the carrier and should start as early as next week. The cuts will hit non-union management particularly hard, with cuts of more than 20 %.
Along with the job cuts, Verizon will transfer about 180 to 200 of its corporate-run retail stores to franchisees, which means those employees will no longer be on Verizon’s payroll.
Restructuring Strategy Amid Competitive Pressure
The staff cut and store conversions are part of a broader restructuring at the newly minted company under recently appointed CEO Dan Schulman, who took charge in early October after an executive stint at PayPal Holdings. Schulman has touted a pivot away from “pricing to for growth” and toward cost transformation, simplicity and becoming “leaner and scrappier.”
The timing of the move underscores how pressures are intensifying within the U.S. telecom field: Verizon added net just 44,000 postpaid wireless customers in its third quarter — well short of rival T‑Mobile US, which gained more than 1 million; meanwhile, cable operators like Comcast Corporation and Charter Communications are snatching up customers by packaging both home internet and mobile services — kicking competition for Verizon into high gear.
Analysts consider the job cuts to be an imperative to enable the company to allocate resources for retention initiatives and other investment, particularly after Verizon’s stock performance of late has stagnated, and not grown its customer base.
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