Verizon is preparing for the largest workforce reduction in the company's history, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing "people familiar with the matter." The sources say the company plans to cut about 15,000 jobs, around 15% of its workforce. The move comes as the telecom giant faces intensifying competition in both the wireless and home internet sectors. Most of the cuts are expected to be layoffs, and the company will also convert roughly 200 of its retail stores into franchises, effectively removing those employees from Verizon's payroll. As of February, Verizon employed about 100,000 people.
The job reductions are part of a broader effort to streamline operations and cut costs amid shrinking subscriber numbers. Verizon has lost postpaid phone subscribers for three consecutive quarters, with a net loss of 7,000 postpaid connections in the most recent quarter—though analysts expected a gain. Rivals AT&T and T-Mobile have continued to grow their subscriber bases during the same period. Last month, Verizon appointed Daniel Schulman, formerly of PayPal and Virgin Mobile USA, as its new CEO.
Schulman has made clear that cost-cutting will be central to his strategy, describing the company as being at a "critical inflection point" and vowing to make Verizon more efficient and agile. "Verizon has gone from number one in market cap, bond ratings and market share to number three," Verizon chairman Mark Bertolini told CNBC on Thursday. "And the network isn't as differentiated as it used to be, in large part because everybody's been spending money to put these 5G networks in place," Bertolini said. "So losing 30% share over the last eight years is an issue, and we have to do something different."
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