Verizon became the latest telecom company to trim its workforce, confirming to Fierce it cut a small number of employees this week.
The operator did not disclose an exact figure for the number of people it laid off. However, Verizon indicated the move impacted a small percentage of its total workforce.
An operator representative told Fierce in a statement: “From time to time, we make adjustments in our workforce to meet the changing needs of our business. As part of this process, we are eliminating a small number of positions within the company. While these decisions are never taken lightly, as always, we will work with those impacted employees throughout their transition.”
As of December 31, 2021, Verizon had 118,400 employees.
Verizon did not address Fierce’s questions about what severance benefits it is offering to impacted workers.
Its move comes after Verizon posted $34.2 billion in revenue and $5 billion in profit in Q3 2022. During its earnings call, CEO Hans Vestberg stated the operator is undertaking a new cost-cutting initiative which is expected to save it $2 billion to $3 billion annually by 2025. Verizon’s last cost cutting program – through which it slashed $10 billion in costs – began in 2017 and ended in 2021. As part of that earlier program, Verizon offered 44,000 managers a voluntary buyout deal, which 10,400 accepted.
Verizon isn’t the only one trimming its workforce. Zayo, Cox Communications and Dell Technologies all recently confirmed cuts in comments to Fierce. Additionally, fixed wireless operator Starry publicly announced plans to let go of half of its employees as it works to improve its financial position.
This week, Comcast hinted it, too, could shed some workers. President and CFO Mike Cavanagh didn’t use the word “layoffs” but noted the operator expects to record “severance and other cost reduction-related charges” in Q4.