Verizon cuts over 3,000 jobs, sells 274 stores amid ongoing customer losses

By: Patricia Battle Reading time: 4 min

Verizon has struggled to slow customer losses in its wireless business in recent years, and under new leadership, it is making major workforce changes.

Dan Schulman, who became CEO of Verizon in October last year, has accelerated efforts to transform the company after it lost about 2.25 million wireless customers over the past three years, following back-to-back price increases and amid heightened competition.

"We are not delivering the shareholder returns our investors expect," said Schulman during an earnings call in October. "Despite investing significantly in network leadership, we have not been able to translate that into winning in the market."

Verizon later laid off more than 13,000 employees in November to simplify its operations and reduce complexity and friction in its business to better serve customers. It also sold 179 corporate-owned retail stores.

The company later cut hundreds of jobs nationwide in May, impacting less than 1% of its global workforce, according to a Business Insider report.

Verizon Conducts More Layoffs and Sells Hundreds of Stores

Now Verizon is once again shrinking its workforce and retail footprint, this time affecting over 3,000 workers, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.

Verizon is planning to sell 274 company-owned retail stores to franchisers, bringing its total store footprint to 1,000 after the sale, which will take effect on Aug. 16.

In an internal memo obtained by the Journal, Verizon told employees that having at least 1,000 corporate-owned stores over the next three years will be sufficient to support its long-term strategy.

In a statement to TheStreet, RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino said Verizon's move to sell 274 of these stores is "a massive exercise in offloading operational risk."

"Running a physical retail store today is incredibly expensive — you have soaring commercial rents, utility bills, and heavy payroll costs. By handing these keys over to independent, authorized franchise dealers, Verizon gets to keep its name on the building while completely scrubbing the operating liabilities off its books."

Related: Verizon acquires 35-year-old wireless carrier as it shuts down

While most of Verizon's 3,000 job cuts will be from selling these retail locations, the carrier is also laying off 500 corporate employees.

John Sinclair, head of consulting and transformation delivery at Americas at Bosch USA, criticized Verizon's strategy to cut jobs in a recent post on social media platform X, claiming that the move reflects poor leadership.

"Verizon was once a pillar of American innovation. Today it reflects strategic drift and a failure to lead. With no clear path to growth or meaningful differentiation, CEO Dan Schulman appears to be reverting to the oldest and weakest playbook: cutting skilled American workers to prop up short term stock bump."

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"This tactic ignores a fundamental truth. A company cannot hollow out its own institutional knowledge without consequence. The talent being discarded is the very foundation that made Verizon great."

Verizon Struggles to Compete in a Challenging Wireless Market

The changes from Verizon come after it reported in its latest earnings report that its wireless retail postpaid phone churn — the percentage of smartphone customers who cancel their service — remains a concern.

Verizon is laying off more than 3,000 employees and selling 274 stores. (Bloomberg / Getty Images)