#customerservice

Verizon’s Mass Layoffs Were ‘Inevitable,’ CEO Says. What the Telecom Wants to Do in 2026. By Karishma Vanjani - Dec 05, 2025, 4:49 pm EST

Verizon announced its largest-ever round of layoffs, cutting thousands of jobs last month. Now the telecom’s new CEO is explaining the cuts—and laying out the path forward for remaining workers.

Chief Executive Daniel Schulman hosted a live all-hands employee webcast on Friday, the company’s first since announcing it’s shedding more than 13,000 jobs. Holding a cup and wearing a dark shirt while standing in front of the red Verizon logo, Schulman was blunt. A video of the webcast was seen by Barron’s.

“We’ve lost like 500 to 700 basis points of market share in the last five years,” Schulman said. “And by the way, that puts pressure on a lot of things. It puts pressure on our revenue. It means we have to compete harder. We start raising rates and when we start raising rates, you start irritating customers big time. They start churning. Like our churn is up like 20, 25 basis points since we started raising rates.”

Customer satisfaction scores are also not great, according to Schulman. “They are worse than our competitors,” he said, adding that the fault is partly Verizon’s. The telecommunications giant didn’t offer employees the “financial flexibility” to get things done, he said.

“A lot of it is self-inflicted wounds. A lot of it,” Schulman said.

The decision on mass layoffs was “inevitable,” according to Schulman, “because if we don’t have enough money to put back into our value proposition to customers, we are going to continue to shrink.” Making small cuts would have meant doing something quite large later on, he added.

Schulman said he presented the company’s 2026 turnaround plan during his first board meeting as CEO this past week, and has plans to detail it the next time he talks to the Street, a likely reference to analysts who cover the company. Schulman will probably share more during Verizon’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Jan. 27.

Verizon didn’t immediately respond to Barron’s request for comment on the plan or the layoffs.

Investors, however, can put together some clues. In late October, Schulman said he intends to use “AI as a key tool to simplify offers.”

That same month, Schulman said in a call with employees, according to a transcript reviewed by Barron’s, that “a lot of the friction occurs because we’re so complex. Like we have so many different promotions out there.”

Verizon will also likely make customer service a focal point in the new year. Schulman, who called himself an overachiever and an upfront man in Friday’s webcast, shared a story of a terminally ill cancer patient who he personally contacted after the man reached out trying to disconnect his Verizon plan.

“Everybody gets terrible customer service across every industry, it’s so bad right now out there. And what if we empowered our reps to do the right thing,” Schulman said.

Verizon has its work cut out for itself. Having a good network connection is no longer a differentiator—and that is forcing the telecom to try to find another way to standout amid a competitive landscape. Shares have taken a beating: Under former CEO Hans Vestberg, who will now serve as a special advisor until October 2026, Verizon stock fell 15%. Shares have dropped 6% over the past three months.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, largely remained stable under Vestberg, who took the reins in mid 2018. Ebitda in 2024 was $48.8 billion, up from $47.2 billion in 2019.

The latest Thanksgiving was strong, Schulman said during the webcast. Separately, he said he sees an opportunity in helping hyperscalers—large cloud service providers—connect to data centers.

Schulman wished his employees happy holidays at the end of the webcast. “Don’t forget about finishing the fourth quarter strong,” he said.

Paywalled: https://www.barrons.com/articles/verizon-layoffs-ceo-stock-price-1e8ee33f
Paywall Removed: https://archive.is/XvQ4k

Comments:
Scott Colebank
Many investors remain in this stock because the dividend yield is appealing and the company has a long record of increasing its payout. With a new CEO taking over, there is uncertainty about how highly he prioritizes maintaining or growing the dividend as he works to turn the company around.

Whitham Reeve
Both the CEO and the company have avoided addressing the dividend directly. This silence is viewed by some investors as a sign that management may consider cutting or reducing the dividend without drawing attention to it.

CM C
The incoming leadership appears to be focusing on operational discipline, which is overdue. Schulman faces the challenge of repairing an organization that, under Vestberg, struggled with efficiency. The previous leadership period included high capital spending, unnecessary complexity across business units, and frequent strategy changes that diluted focus. Vestberg also earned eight figure compensation despite weak performance, which frustrated many shareholders.

Bill Letson
As wireless service becomes more like a commodity, carriers often engage in price competition to retain or attract customers. This compresses margins and can erode long term value. Because of this dynamic, the commenter sees Verizon as a value trap, meaning the stock appears cheap but may not deliver meaningful upside.

MATTHEW MENENEBERG
This user experienced billing issues in which Verizon added charges for services that were not requested. Removing these charges took months and no refund was provided for the incorrect billing period. Because of the frustration and lack of customer care, they plan to leave Verizon soon.

Houyhnhnm GT
The commenter has been a long term holder who has waited through multiple promises of improvement. The ongoing lack of meaningful progress has tested their patience, and they plan to give the company only one more year before selling if results fall short again.

George Vernile
This investor highlights the substantial dividend income they receive, about four thousand dollars every quarter. They remain committed to holding the stock because the steady income is valuable to their portfolio.

It felt good. Really good. I know of three friends doing the same from the layoffs. Total lines are 26 leaving. The bill becomes untenable. Twice the price for the same customer service. Same overseas reps too. DPAs are paid too. No commitment. Just pay the final bill.

Only 10 job postings in US. All are exec level. No CE openings. Heard that all instructors at NCRU were let go.
So I read that as customer service is gone in 2026. My guess is no service contracts will be renewed and any service will be outsourced. Anyone heard is parts in Memphis is moving or closing?

The End is Near

Saying nothing but the truth. We aren’t what we used to be. Hans shipped all of customer service to 3rd world countries. What were we thinking the outcome was going to be ? Cheaper for a better experience? Heck no. You get what you pay for. The good old days with Lowell where our customer service was #1 and respected.

Our network su-ks. What happened to our network ? Can you hear me now? “Call dropped” I miss those day we had full bar is signal anywhere we would go. Now it’s 1 bar everywhere unless you live next to a tower within site distance.

After being with the company for 10plus years State Farm decided to find an “issue” with a coverage we offer and then say we weren’t offering it correctly but still have to offer it. Got a whole team cut right before thanksgiving. The company is going downhill 1000%. All of our long time customers receiving NO notice or anything about this change. Just left in the dark with no clue what is going on.

• it’s unacceptable to start a meeting at 10:31 instead of 10:30 but runs over in current meeting
• talks about silos and every single thing in this company is siloed
• culture is at its worst because Sam Hammock- get rid of her
• customer service is bad across all companies- it’s literally the most simple answer- stop putting non English speakers in customer service roles
• about time we do away with not hiring / promoting outside of NJ or TX - but will we hold HR accountable for putting that new policy in place
• I do agreed with what he said about us not winning and doing poorly but in all honestly, it’s leaderships fault for where we are. When will leadership be held accountable?

Last month, the Nike Training / Running Studio that I go to abruptly closed for two days of "maintenance". During that time, they got rid of all in-studio staff except the trainers, instituted self-check in and set up a new central phone number and e-mail support system for all studios.

Except that no one answers the phones or responds to e-mail. It took me going to the studio and asking the trainer to escalate an account issue to get a response to my e-mails and voicemails. And then they made a mistake in implementing my request. Three weeks later, still no non-response to any e-mails (except auto-zendesk responses) and voicemails. At the studio, I talked to other members who said they and their friends were considering quitting the studio because they cut class times to a point that memberships are not worth it for them.

As someone who was laid off from Nike HQ last year, I know that things are rough at Nike right now but this seems extreme in terms of poor implementation and customer service. My fellow members and I agree that the trainers are amazing and we'd like to continue going to their classes. But these changes make it seem like Nike is trying to get rid of us? Why not just shut down the studios altogether? If there are lease considerations, then at least answer the phone / respond to e-mails to retain existing members.

Verizon still has an a deeply rooted anti-customer mindset that needs to be rooted out. The company’s employees are very internally focused (painfully evident on posts to this site & elsewhere online).

That ingrained problem (both conscious) can't be corrected by simply throwing money at the problem (e.g., Network improvements, addressing IVR routing, etc.).

What Verizon should do is require every Manager and Occupational to have a full rotational assignment (i.e., 1 1/2 - 2 years) in Sales or Customer Service!

P.s., If Verizon Leadership is monitoring online feedback this suggestion needs to be immediately taken back to Dan Schulman & The Board. In fact, I think I'll send this directly to Dan's Office.

a year that's going to the executive board and put it back into the network and customer service.

Wow! I read through customer comments on Reddit. Dan claims he’s going to focus on customer experience and customer value. Given that Hans has blasted thousands of holes into the side of the SS Verizon and we are taking on water by the ton, how long will it take to repair the damage he caused? Simply making better offers for customers is not going to cut it. Customer Service (outsourced) needs to migrate back to the US and the network needs massive attention based on the comments of people complaining about how it used to be good and now it’s awful.

I’m not buying into Dan’s comments as they are the same words Hans used, so either it’s another distraction or an actual plan. If it’s real, there is no way to quickly fix the issue so customers are going to continue to flee quarter after quarter.

How long would it take to fix Han’s legacy?

Whoever did this is a mo--n. The way it shows up on the screen is completely confusing for customers and staff. To do this to us on Black Friday is ridiculous. Most of my customers DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. Trying to explain this pricing to them is impossible they don't understand it. They should have just gone with the usual 25 or 30 percent scan label.

Customer service, specifically financial service… incompetent. I really shouldn’t have to look up 5 different roll ups to finally get to the onshore opps manager to get a VERIZON ERROR fixed.. that supposedly cannot be fixed by tier 1.. but they won’t transfer to sup. So a whole day spent just to remove a suspension that was a Verizon error on a long time loyal SMB customer. Where is the surprise and delight in that Dan? How about we delight our customers with on shore, competent reps?

Good luck talking to anybody at viabenefits to get healthcare questions answered.

If AT&T wants to push AI so hard, all they need to do is run a basic Google search for “AT&T Su-ks.” Then they can use agents to run sentiment analysis on everything from all the interwebs. There’s even a Facebook page some built called AT&T Su-ks.

In a matter of seconds, John Stankey will be able to see, even without using AI, that Customers are most frustrated with network speed, stability, lack of being able to reach a US-based human agent to resolve billing issues and broken promotion promises, among others.

Go ahead, give it a whirl - especially if you work for J.D. Power & Associates.

To the Board and shareholders who championed outsourcing: How's that cost-cutting strategy working out? You couldn't wait to offshore customer service and chase those savings, letting outside contractors hollow out what made this company great. Now Verizon is a shell of what it was, rotting from the inside, and the talented people who repeatedly saved your as--s are long gone. Congratulations on your short-term gains.

Has anyone heard about VcG customer service/loyalty? I don’t go back til December 21 st.

Our incoming calls going directly to voicemail!
Per Apple Support suspected “network” issue.
Required a phone reset….
Coincidence?…
Anyone else having/had trouble?

The way this was handled is a disgrace, especially for a "communications" company. Verizon has been losing customers by the hundreds for months now and their solution is to cut Operations. Some markets are down to a few guys for entire states. Way to put the customer first, Verizon. Bravo.

Haven’t heard anything about customer service. Also haven’t heard anything about PACT or are new customer champion department.

We had 1400 calls in que everyday now today 8 minutes between calls!!! Go figure

It's going to be tough to right the ship after being so anti-customer for decades now.

I used Verizon cellphone service for a year in the late 1990's for sales position and was so put off by the overall experience I switched at first opportunity back to AT&T. In the mid-2010's I tried Fios and had the same terrible experience. Different LOB, same BS.

Verizon has a bad reputation with customers that will be difficult to shake off with promotions.

• So true, @b9+1ka9d2vw1*

Ridiculous bulletin boards look like a 4th grade classroom with who’s a shooting star for credit? Who is a “customer service” champion?

Also lunchroom now has warning on door that food and drink is not allowed on sales floor. How insulting.

Belk needs to treat us like adults and maybe, just maybe they wouldn’t have such a high turnover rate.

Speaking strictly as a customer, Verizon's culture is 100% anti-customer.

Twice a year price increases...declining value for what paid...endless prompts to attempt to reach live help...nasty customer service reps...inflexiblility to address customer issues...hidden fees & charges...terrible website...repeated requests for security passwords...the list goes on & on!

TRUTHFULLY, this is way beyond blaming Verizon leadership. Some heads need to roll at every level to begin to root out a systemic anti-customer corporate wide culture!

Anyone hear anything regarding internal care teams or case management/ert

Has anyone heard about customer care?

I wonder as an American company if they will be RIFing customer service staff in the Philippines or India? Will they live up to their corporate responsibility to the American worker? Like many companies, they talk but won't live up to their rhetoric. Also, H1B visas. Look around you in IT and other apartments that hire labor other than the American worker

I am definitely not staying with VZ if I get RIFd and losing my employee discount. VZ is looking at 15000 disconnects soon?

Overpriced and terrible customer service.

I love it. Saw this on another board for PWC layoffs. (Price Waterhouse..one of the big 4 accountiing firms) I Googled this:
Client Demands and PwC's Response
Demand for Discounts: As PwC has publicly touted its significant AI investments and the resulting efficiency gains (e.g., in audit and tax processes), clients have started requesting price cuts. Clients argue they are entitled to a portion of the benefits when AI tools complete work faster.

Cut pay plans and increase quotas. What kind of talent do you retain? What kind of environment do you foster? You wind up with reps stuffing sales with undiscussed line items. Risking getting fired so they don’t get fired. Makes sense and sounds sustainable!

I’m in customer care and eligible for retirement with tenure and age. I’m wondering if HR would allow me to retire with severance instead of going through the layoff?

Over a couple years ago, Verizon leadership sent 3500 Verizon employees to HCL. HCL has let go 99% of them. Customers are leaving because they don’t want to deal with India, or the incompetence of HCL. I hope Gina, Kyle and the rest of the complacent leadership gets booted. I know they will cut more of the business unit. To best of luck to those have been through a lot since MCI.

What do you honestly spend more time doing every day, trying to sell anything or fixing the same simple problems for seniors over and over again? At some point it becomes pretty clear what the store has actually turned into, and that makes the whole closure feel less like a surprise and more like an overdue decision. We've basically ended up acting like a walk in help desk for the senior crowd instead of an actual retail location, and once that becomes the main part of the job, the writing’s already on the wall.

The current implementation of internal account indicators—often referred to as "banners" or "flags" for priority opportunities—is fundamentally distorting our approach to customer engagement and compromising the integrity of our sales data.

The core issue is that management directives are prioritizing the achievement of a high banner "close rate" metric over serving the complete needs of the customer.

Metric Manipulation Over Sales Integrity:
The mandate to achieve a positive close rate on these specific accounts results in behavior that is detrimental to both the customer and the business's long-term health:

Avoidance of Service:
Employees are being instructed to actively avoid accessing accounts with a high-priority banner if the customer's immediate need is not a confirmed purchase (e.g., they need a simple phone activation, a non-committal upgrade quote, or troubleshooting). This is a direct abandonment of the core principle that customers are the lifeblood of our operation.

Skewed Performance Data:
This avoidance strategy does not reflect an increase in sales; it merely creates an artificially inflated "close rate." If an account with a high-value opportunity is never opened, the company still fails to capture the potential revenue. The resulting data gives a misleading picture of our sales effectiveness, suggesting we are performing better on these opportunities than we actually are. This is not salesmanship; it is data manipulation.

Unrealistic Expectations and Pressure:
The immense pressure placed on front-line staff stems directly from unrealistic expectations set by executive leadership, who demand near-perfect closure on every flagged opportunity.

This lack of realism ignores the fundamental reality of the sales process, which inherently includes customer deliberation, declines, and service-only interactions.

Furthermore, this intense focus and pressure are applied despite the fact that successfully closing a high-priority banner sale does not typically result in increased commission or compensation compared to a standard transaction. This disconnect forces employees to endure significant stress without adequate incentive.

The Call for Change!!
The mandate to avoid customers based on a potential sales banner is a betrayal of the stated core values of the organization, particularly integrity. True success is measured by serving every customer need honestly and driving organic sales, not by fabricating positive performance metrics through systemic avoidance and data manipulation. This practice must be immediately reviewed and reformed to align our operational goals with genuine customer care and ethical sales practices.

The lack of knowledge, along with long calls to address a simple task, of the CS reps at Humana now is unbelievable. Humana has really messed up by outsourcing those jobs, cause we used to have really great CS reps.

If this is true, the impact could bring the whole company down. You can't just cut 15,000 people and hope the ship does not eventually sink....just sayin...

Fiserv stock is now under 60. With the terrible customer service and outdated technology offerings they offer that’s still too high. The fall of Fiserv should studied.

A simple order is seriously taking 30min and they still mess it up. I don't recognize any of the usual representatives lately either, which is unfortunate because they actually did their job right and did it well.

RR5 desks being uprooted in our department. Nice cubes being removed in favor of call center style desks sandwiched together with no privacy to speak to customers and clients alike. Floor will resemble a boiler room environment over the next month. I guess we are looking at the Sears customer support model from 1988?

MISS THE DAYS WHERE WE USED TO BE ABLE TO CALL THEIR HELPDESK AND GET SOME HELP. HASNT BEEN THE SAME AND JUST GETS WORSE. LONG WAIT, WE DONT GET A CALL BACK OR THEY TELL US TO CALL OUR IT AND OUR IT TELLS US TO CALL SHARP. OUR DRS AND STAFF ARE BEYOND FRUSTRATED! I HAVE EMPLOYEES WAITING AROUND FOR ACCOUNTS. HAVE TO WORK EXTRA HOURS TO CATCH UP. AND HERE I AM ON THIS WEBSITE SO I HAVE AN IDEA ON WHAT TO EXPECT. DO BETTER WE’RE YOUR CUSTOMERS TOO!