Verizon, a major telecommunications company, is getting ready to cut a lot of jobs. A Wall Street Journal report says that the company plans to cut about 15,000 jobs. This choice means that Verizon is laying off the most people in its history.
Verizon is cutting jobs because of a lot of pressure from the market. The company has had a lot of trouble getting customers for wireless and home internet. It has lost valuable postpaid phone subscribers for three quarters in a row.
The reason behind the major Verizon job cuts
Dan Schulman, the new CEO who used to run PayPal, wants to make the company “simpler, leaner, and scrappier.” He has said that raising prices too much was a big part of the company’s past growth. Without also getting more subscribers, this plan won’t work. The big job cuts at Verizon are part of a plan to entirely change how the company spends money.
Not all of the 15,000 jobs will be gone for good. A plan to turn about 200 stores into franchises will move some jobs off the company’s payroll. Thereafter, the franchise owner would hire people to work at those places. Reports say that the Verizon job cuts will mostly affect management staff who are not in a union.
Even among its competitors, these Verizon job cuts are very large. AT&T has lost about 5,000 employees this year, and T-Mobile has taken on workers from an acquisition. However, Verizon’s planned job cuts are the biggest. Verizon’s job cuts show that the telecom industry is very competitive and that companies are changing their strategies.
