Verizon is cutting more than 13,000 jobs as it works to 'reorient'
entire company
[November 21, 2025] By
WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees in mass
job reductions that arrive as the telecommunications giant says it must
“reorient” its entire company.
The job cuts began on Thursday, per to a staff memo from Verizon CEO Dan
Schulman. In the letter, which was seen by The Associated Press,
Schulman said Verizon's current cost structure “limits” the company's
ability to invest — pointing particularly to customer experiences.
“We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and
delighting our customers,” Schulman wrote. He added that the company
needed to simplify its operations “to address the complexity and
friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers.”
Verizon had nearly 100,000 full-time employees as of the end of last
year, according to securities filings. A spokesperson confirmed that the
layoffs announced Thursday account for about 20% of the company's
management workforce, which isn't unionized.
Verizon has faced rising competition in both the wireless phone and home
internet space — particularly from AT&T, T-Mobile and other big market
players. New leadership at the company has stressed the need to right
the company's direction.
Schulman became CEO just last month. In the company's most recent
earnings, he stated that Verizon’s trajectory was at a “critical
inflection point" — and said, rather than incremental changes, Verizon
would “aggressively transform” its operations.
For its third quarter of 2025, Verizon posted earnings of $4.95 billion
and $33.82 billion in revenue. The carrier reported continued subscriber
growth for its prepaid wireless services, but it lost a net 7,000
postpaid connections.
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A Verizon sign is displayed on a store, Sept. 30, 2025, in
Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, file)
 News of coming layoffs at Verizon
was reported last week by The Wall Street Journal. The outlet says
that the 13,000 job cuts mark the largest-ever round of layoffs at
the company.
Beyond the cuts across Verizon’s workforce, Schulman said that the
New York company would also “significantly reduce” its outsourced
and other outside labor expenses.
It’s a tough time for the job market overall — and Verizon isn’t the
only company to announce sizeable workforce reductions recently.
More and more layoffs have piled up at companies like Amazon, UPS,
Nestlé and more.
Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning
from U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts
in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more
broadly — or are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.
Regardless, such cuts have raised worker anxieties across sectors.
Schulman on Thursday recognized that “changes in technology and in
the economy are impacting the workforce across all industries.” He
said that Verizon had established a $20 million “Reskilling and
Career Transition Fund” for workers departing the company.
Shares of Verizon fell just over 1% by Thursday's close.
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