America’s Biggest Wireless Carrier cuts 15,000 Jobs after Price-hike Gamble Backfires
By DANIEL JONES, US CONSUMER EDITOR
Verizon is preparing to cut around 15,000 jobs in the biggest round of layoffs in its history.
America’s biggest wireless carrier is battling shrinking customer numbers and rising competition across the wireless and home-internet markets.
The cuts are set to roll out within the next week and will come mostly through direct layoffs, according to the Wall Street Journal who first reported the news.
The company — which has about 100,000 employees — also plans to spin roughly 200 of its retail stores into franchises, shifting those workers off Verizon’s payroll.
Verizon — the largest US telecom provider by subscribers — has been losing lucrative postpaid phone customers for three straight quarters as rivals T-Mobile and AT&T step up aggressive promotions.
It caps a disastrous stretch for the telecom giant, which has been losing subscribers at an alarming pace.
Verizon admitted in April that it lost 289,000 monthly wireless customers in the first quarter alone — more than double the losses from the same period last year and far worse than Wall Street expected.
The company told investors the exodus ‘reflects the impact of recent pricing actions,’ after the company raised rates and scaled back discounts.
The shake-up comes weeks after Verizon named Daniel Schulman, the former chief of PayPal and Virgin Mobile USA, as its new CEO. Schulman has vowed to overhaul the business, reverse customer losses and slash costs across the board
Verizon is preparing its biggest-ever round of layoffs as customer losses mount and price hikes backfire
Once known for big holiday promotions, Verizon pulled back after Christmas last year — while rivals T-Mobile and AT&T kept slashing prices. The decision backfired spectacularly as frustrated customers ditched the service for cheaper competitors.
The shake-up comes weeks after Verizon appointed Daniel Schulman, the former boss of PayPal and Virgin Mobile USA, as its new chief executive. Schulman has pledged to slash costs across the company and stem the steady decline in wireless customers.
‘We have a tremendous amount of opportunity to be more efficient, to be scrappier,’ Schulman said last month as he discussed the company’s third-quarter results.
‘Cost reductions will be a way of life for us here.’
