Verizon confirmed this week that more than 13,000 employees will lose their jobs, a workforce reduction exceeding 13% that ranks among the largest layoffs in the company’s history.
The cuts arrive as CEO Dan Schulman pushes a sweeping restructuring aimed at repositioning the telecom giant for artificial intelligence and reversing customer losses to rivals AT&T and T-Mobile.
Schulman delivered the news Thursday in a company-wide memo, informing staff that the eliminations would span “every part of the company.” He framed the decision as critical to “building a faster, stronger and more proactive Verizon.”
“Our current cost structure limits our ability to invest significantly in our customer value proposition,” Schulman wrote. “We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers.”
The announcement follows by less than a week multiple reports, which cited anonymous sources, suggesting Verizon planned to shed as many as 20,000 positions while converting roughly 200 corporate-owned stores into franchises. Schulman’s memo did not confirm those specific numbers or address the store conversions.
Meanwhile, California’s Employment Development Department shows no WARN notices filed yet by the company.
Employee accounts suggest the fallout has already begun. A widely circulated Reddit post from a self-identified Verizon worker described district directors, business leads, and operations teams being dismissed with little warning.
“Still employed and hearing the bombs drop around,” the employee wrote, adding that understaffed stores now struggle to handle customer demands and predicting the reshuffling will be “something of a pain for the customers experiencing it for the short term.”
Verizon shed 7,000 consumer postpaid phone connections last quarter, a decline that surprised analysts and added pressure on Schulman, who joined the company earlier this year.
Schulman acknowledged the restructuring’s human cost. He announced a $20 million fund focused on digital training and job placement, describing it as preparation for “the age of AI.” He also told remaining employees to “finish the year strong, with a running start to 2026.”
