Verizon is laying off 15% of its workforce

Verizon is about to undergo its largest series of layoffs throughout the company's history. The initiative is apparently spearheaded by new Verizon CEO Dan Schulman, in his attempt to restructure the carrier.

Verizon is about to lay off 15,000 employees (around 15% of its workforce) according to The Wall Street Journal. CEO Dan Schulman has commented on wanting to make Verizon, once a force to be reckoned with, into a "scrappier" business to cut costs.

Verizon as a whole has been struggling for years. The company is losing subscribers each quarter of every year, and its various efforts to retain subscribers have failed. Letting 15,000 people go is the next step in Verizon's efforts to start turning a significant profit.

This move also follows news about a pricing war brewing between T-Mobile and Verizon. T-Mobile may offer better prices for a short while, but Verizon will be forced into desperate measures to keep its market share from completely collapsing.

The layoffs will begin to take effect from next week. Initial reports from Verizon employees had already begun surfacing on social media a week prior, warning existing representatives of the incoming job cuts.

Expect more AI customer service from Verizon.

How this affects you

For Verizon employees, this is horrible news. Those of you who have become aware of this will have to wait a week before finding out whether you're being let go. If you are, today's job market will be a very rough field to navigate.

Verizon users will not be affected directly just now. Their experience at their local Verizon store may deteriorate due to a lack of staff, but operations will continue on as normal.

In the future, Verizon's subscribers may have to deal with the company's AI customer service more often. Customers often hate having to deal with AI customer support agents, and this will worsen their experience with the carrier.

Dan Schulman has said Verizon needs to stop increasing billing costs to turn a profit. If Schulman keeps his word, Verizon's customers are in for a much better time than the company's employees.

Images courtesy of Verizon