A leaner Verizon
Reducing the workforce will allow Verizon to curtail costs. It has never terminated this many positions before. The downsizing begins next week.The carrier will convert nearly 200 stores into franchised operations, which will shift the burden of salaries to third-party store owners.
The pressure is mounting
Verizon has lost customers in each of the last three quarters, and the next one may be no different.
New CEO Daniel Schulman has realized the carrier cannot rely on endless price hikes to bolster revenue. That’s why the company has decided to turn to efficiency to cut down on costs.
As of February, the company employed 100,000 people, and if today’s report is true, it’s going to let 15 percent of the workforce go.
Verizon also announced it would quit or streamline legacy businesses that weren’t profitable enough to continue as is.
The obvious question was how Verizon planned to pay for that. Now we know. What we don’t know is whether these cost reductions will actually help to offset the higher planned costs of retention.”
Craig Moffett, senior analyst at MoffettNathanson, November 2025
Not raising prices might not be enough to retain customers, as Reuters says Verizon is the most expensive carrier. MoffettNathanson’s senior analyst Craig Moffett expected the company to offer flagship phones at subsidized rates and it looks like the cost-cutting measures will help fund the free or discounted upgrades.
Another bad decision
Verizon was rumored to shutter stores, but we now know that it’s only transitioning 200 stores into franchise-run establishments. That sounds like a better alternative than shutting down stores and leaving customers at the mercy of AI chatbots, which many believe are inadequate to serve them.
Franchised operations may lead to a degradation in service, as there will be less company oversight. Third-party carrier stores can sometimes resort to unethical and pushy sales tactics to meet their targets.
Poor customer service is a routinely mentioned complaint, and washing its hands of stores isn’t the brightest idea.
Nonetheless, after brushing off concerns about its churn problem during the first half of the year, Verizon has at least been rattled enough by mounting subscriber losses to do something about it, even if that something proves detrimental.
