Verizon announced on Thursday that it is laying off more than 13,000 employees as the telecommunications giant seeks to “reorient” the company.
The cuts were announced in a staff memo from Verizon CEO Dan Schulman that was seen by The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal.
Schulman said Verizon’s current cost structure “limits” the company’s ability to invest — and pointed specifically to customer experiences.
“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 company is also trimming back on its outsourced and outside labor expenses.
For its third quarter of 2025, Verizon posted earnings of $4.95 billion and $33.82 billion in revenue, the AP reported. The carrier reported continued subscriber growth for its prepaid wireless services, but it lost a net 7,000 postpaid connections.
Verizon had approximately 100,000 employees as of February, according to securities filings. Most are not unionized. The layoffs will reduce Verizon’s labor expenses for nonunion employees by about 20%. Approximately 88% of those employees are based in the United States.
Schulman was named to lead Verizon in October after serving as a board member since 2018. Previously, he served as PayPal’s chief executive and held senior leadership roles at AT&T, Priceline, Virgin Mobile and American Express.
“Verizon is at a critical inflection point,” Schulman said last month in a call discussing the company’s third-quarter results.
In his Thursday memo, Schulman announced a $20 million reskilling and career-transition fund for employees who are leaving, aimed at preparing them for the age of artificial intelligence.