Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees as part of a major restructuring effort aimed at cutting costs and sharpening its focus on customers. The reductions, which began on Thursday, affect about 13% of the company’s workforce and roughly 20% of its management, according to internal communications and company statements.
New CEO Dan Schulman, who took over last month, told employees that Verizon’s current cost structure is limiting its ability to invest in better services and customer experience. He said the company must “reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers” and simplify operations to remove “complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers.”
The layoffs come as Verizon faces intense competition in mobile and home internet from rivals like AT&T and T-Mobile, while also pursuing large investments such as its $20 billion merger with fiber provider Frontier and its deal to acquire antenna-based provider Starry. In its latest quarterly results, Verizon reported $33.82 billion in revenue and $4.95 billion in profit, but also a net loss of around 7,000 postpaid phone customers.
In addition to job cuts, Verizon plans to “significantly reduce” spending on outsourced and external labor. To support those affected, the company is setting up a $20 million “Reskilling and Career Transition Fund” focused on digital training, skills development, and job placement. Schulman framed this as part of a broader response to how technology and AI are reshaping jobs across industries.
Verizon says more organizational changes will be shared in the coming weeks as it prepares for 2026 and tries to position itself as a “customer-first, cost-conscious” company in a highly competitive telecom market.
