Verizon is preparing for one of the largest workforce shakeups in its history as new CEO Dan Schulman moves quickly to streamline operations and respond to intensifying competition in the United States telecom market.
Verizon is set to cut about fifteen thousand jobs as early as next week. This marks the largest round of layoffs ever initiated by the wireless carrier, Reuters news report and The Wall Street Journal said.
Verizon’s latest filings show a steady reduction in its workforce through 2024, followed by stabilization in 2025. The company had 105.4 thousand employees at the end of 2023. Headcount fell each quarter of 2024, reaching 99.6 thousand by year end. In 2025, employee numbers held close to the 100 thousand mark, recording 99.4 thousand in the first quarter, 100.0 thousand in the second quarter, and 100.2 thousand in the third quarter.
The upcoming job cuts represent around 15 percent of Verizon’s workforce and continue a multi- year trend of cost reduction. The restructuring will target non union management roles, reducing that group by more than twenty percent. In addition, Verizon plans to convert roughly 180 corporate owned retail outlets into franchised stores, aiming to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency across its retail footprint.
Competition Pressures Verizon to Reinvent Itself
Verizon continues to face shrinking opportunities for new subscribers as rivals such as AT and T and T Mobile aggressively roll out promotional offers tied to new iPhone launches, including heavy discounts and trade in deals. Cable operators like Comcast and Charter are also disrupting the wireless market by bundling high speed internet with mobile plans, attracting customers looking for value driven packages.
Verizon added only 44,000 postpaid wireless subscribers in the third quarter of 2025. The number is far behind AT and T, while T Mobile led the market with more than one million net additions. This widening gap has increased pressure on the company to rethink its strategy.
Schulman Pushes for a Leaner, Simpler Verizon
Dan Schulman, who joined Verizon in October after leading PayPal, has already signaled the need for bold action. He has stressed that Verizon must undertake serious cost transformation efforts to rebuild momentum.
Dan Schulman said last month that the company needs to become simpler, leaner and more focused on customer value. He emphasized that Verizon cannot continue relying on price increases to drive financial growth. Verizon still holds the highest prices in the US wireless market. Dan Schulman believes that pricing alone cannot sustain long term growth without steady subscriber additions.
Analysts say the new CEO’s challenge is two-fold. Verizon must stop customer losses while investing heavily to retain existing subscribers. That includes subsidizing high priced smartphones for millions of customers, raising questions about how the company will fund new incentives while cutting costs elsewhere.
Industry analysts continue to question the financial burden of Verizon’s investments. The company spent $52 billion on key midband spectrum during the major 2021 auction, a move seen by some as excessively costly. Verizon also made a $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications and paid $6 billion for prepaid provider TracFone Wireless.
A Turning Point for Verizon
Verizon had about 100,000 employees at the end of 2024, after reducing nearly 20,000 jobs over the prior three years. Last year, the company implemented a voluntary separation program that cut 4,800 positions and led to a near $2 billion charge. Previous voluntary exit programs have also trimmed thousands of roles.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
