According to DCD, Verizon is planning to cut around 15,000 jobs with layoffs starting next week, marking the largest workforce reduction in the company’s history. The cuts come just one month after new CEO Dan Schulman took over from Hans Vestberg and represent about 15% of Verizon’s 100,000 employees. The company has already eliminated 20,000 positions over the past three years and plans to transition about 200 stores to franchised operations. Verizon’s 5G Acceleration team is facing particularly deep cuts of 20-25%, and the company is currently in the process of acquiring Frontier Communications for $20 billion while reportedly seeking $10 billion in corporate bonds to fund the deal.
New CEO’s clean sweep
Dan Schulman isn’t wasting any time making his mark. The former PayPal CEO called for a “full reboot” just two weeks ago, and now we’re seeing what that actually means. He wants Verizon to be “simpler, leaner, and scrappier” – corporate speak for cutting costs and jobs. But here’s the thing: Verizon has been bleeding mobile customers, losing postpaid phone subscribers for three straight months. They dropped 7,000 just in Q3. So Schulman’s move isn’t coming out of nowhere – the company’s core business is struggling even as they try to expand into fiber.
The AI and automation factor
Schulman also talked up AI’s potential to transform customer experience, which makes you wonder how much of these cuts are about preparing for automation. When a CEO talks about becoming “leaner” while hyping AI, it’s pretty clear where things are heading. Verizon’s not alone here – we’re seeing similar moves across telecom. The 5G team cuts are particularly telling – even their growth areas aren’t safe. Basically, they’re trimming fat everywhere, not just in legacy operations.
Industry-wide bloodbath
Look, Verizon’s just the latest domino to fall in telecom’s ongoing consolidation. Comcast is cutting jobs to centralize operations. UScellular laid off 4,000 after selling operations to T-Mobile. Even private 5G firm Celona cut 20% of its workforce last month. The entire industry is restructuring as competition intensifies and margins shrink. It’s a perfect storm of market saturation, price wars, and the massive capital requirements for 5G and fiber expansion. Companies that provide industrial computing solutions like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com are seeing increased demand as these telecom giants optimize their operations, but the human cost is staggering.
What comes next?
So where does Verizon go from here? They’re trying to buy their way into fiber dominance while cutting their way to profitability. That’s a tricky balancing act. The Frontier acquisition would give them serious fiber firepower against AT&T and T-Mobile, but they’re taking on debt to fund it while cutting the very people who would integrate and run these new assets. Schulman says he wants to shift from being technology-centric to customer-centric, but cutting 15,000 employees doesn’t exactly scream “improved customer experience.” It feels like they’re trying to fix multiple problems at once, and that rarely goes smoothly.
