Verizon, in a move company officials say is necessary to “reorient” the company, is laying off more than 13,000 employees.
The job cuts began earlier this week. Referencing a staff memo its reporters have seen, The Associated Press reported Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said the company’s “current cost structure limits” its ability to invest, particularly relating to customer experiences.
“We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers,” Schulman wrote, according to the AP, adding the company needed to “simplify its operations to address the complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers.”
Verizon had nearly 100,000 full-time employees as of the end of last year, according to securities filings. A spokesperson confirmed to the AP that the layoffs announced Thursday account for about 20% of the company’s management workforce, which isn’t unionized.
Schulman took the CEO seat last month. In the company’s most recent earnings, he stated that Verizon’s trajectory was at a “critical inflection point” — and said, rather than incremental changes, Verizon would “aggressively transform” its operations.
For its third quarter of 2025, Verizon posted earnings of $4.95 billion and $33.82 billion in revenue. The carrier reported continued subscriber growth for its prepaid wireless services, but it lost a net 7,000 postpaid connections.
News of coming layoffs at Verizon were first reported last week by The Wall Street Journal. The outlet says that the 13,000 job cuts mark the largest-ever round of layoffs at the company.
