#retail

Biggest market layoffs will occur in South Florida and the Carolina's

Heard it from my peers who work close to Jerome.

40 stores will be depleted.

Roles span network engineering, customer service, retail operations, IT, and enterprise sales—skills highly transferable to other telecom, tech, and infrastructure firms.

The broader telecom job market in 2025 remains robust, fueled by 5G/6G expansions, fiber optic buildouts, and remote work demands, creating 3.8–4.6 million new jobs globally. U.S. telecom operators and vendors are hiring tens of thousands for network operations, field services, and support roles.

Companies Likely Hiring Verizon-Aligned Talent

Based on current 2025 job market trends, here are key companies actively recruiting for telecom-related positions. These firms value Verizon experience in areas like wireless infrastructure, customer support, and network management.

I’ve prioritized major players with open roles in engineering, sales, and operations, drawing from industry hiring data and job boards. Focus on updating your LinkedIn and resume to highlight transferable skills (e.g., 5G deployment, VoIP systems, or CRM tools) for faster applications.

AT&T

Largest U.S. telecom rival; aggressively expanding fiber and 5G networks, adding ~400,000 postpaid lines in Q3 2025. No major layoffs reported this year; hiring to offset retirements.

T-Mobile

Fast-growing carrier with 1M+ new lines in Q3 2025; focuses on affordable plans and 5G private networks. Actively recruits from competitors for enterprise and retail talent.

Comcast

Entering wireless aggressively via MVNOs; needs Verizon retail and broadband experts for store expansions and customer migration.

Charter/Spectrum

Recent $34.5B merger with Cox boosts hiring in cable-to-wireless transitions; targeting infrastructure roles amid store growth.

Crown Castle

Tower infrastructure giant; Verizon’s 5G partners often transition here for site acquisition and maintenance roles. High demand due to neutral-host 5G builds.

Ericsson

Global telecom equipment leader; hires for 5G/6G R&D and deployment. Verizon enterprise team cuts create direct pipeline.

Nokia

Similar to Ericsson; expanding U.S. private networks for ports/industry. Seeks ex-Verizon engineers for hardware/firmware roles.

Granite Telecom

Mid-sized provider of enterprise telecom solutions; partners with Verizon for resale. Hiring for growth in VoIP and cloud services.

TDS Telecom

Regional carrier focused on rural broadband; entry-to-mid-level hiring for field and sales, with strong benefits for ex-corporate roles.

Additional Tips for Landing a Role

• Timing: November–December hiring slows, but January 2026 ramps up. Apply now via LinkedIn (use “Open to Work” banner) and job sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or Telecom-specific boards (e.g., FieldEngineer.com).

• Severance Leverage: Verizon’s packages include 60-day WARN notice, extended benefits, and outplacement services—use them for resume coaching and networking.

• Upskilling: Free resources like Coursera’s Google IT Support cert or CompTIA Network+ can bridge to high-demand areas like cybersecurity or AI in telecom.

• Networking: Join groups like “Telecom Professionals” on LinkedIn or Reddit’s r/telecom for insider leads. Former Verizon colleagues are already sharing opportunities in these spaces.

How many Verizon Corporate locations are in the US ? This will help scale the size of the layoff

The retail stores that are turning franchise are the following.

• Under performing year over year (all metrics, not just growth)

• overlapping/ redundant stores, including stores in congested markets (example, districts with stores within a 30 mile radius from each other)

• locations with upcoming expiring leases

• locations that have not been remodeled

• Mall locations (all)

The cuts outside of stores closing will be support channels, R2B reps/managers, Sr operations analysts, training, director consolidation, sr director consolidation, market presidents and VPs and their support teams (executive assistants, etc.) Retail stores with 3 assistant managers.

Is anyone else thinking of finding a better opportunity else where if your still at Target?

So believe me when I tell you right now their going to give up about 200 corporate owned run retail stores to authorized retailers or close completely some locations,but over the next few years Verizon plans to have no corporate owned stores .All 3rd party sellers.I believe if your on the Verizon Wireless retail side start planning to get out . Even if you survive these Layoffs over the year or 2 .The end is near

What's the prediction?

I’m afraid the holiday season will flop, and things will only get worse from there. Jobs are scarce, most of us have little to no savings, and there’s nothing to fall back on if it really hits hard. Maybe I’m anxious for no reason, but the vibe has never felt worse in my memory.

Have any stores been notified of being closed or converted to indirect? What about the ops support people? If these stores close down do they cut their ops person too?

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.

Belk is opening ANOTHER outlet in an old big lots store in Jackson Mississippi.

So kudos to people keeping slacks open to the public, most people probably saw the 29k reference. However I found a new one showing 200 people under Kevin Z... also OWBPA report was referenced. So it looks like the retail rumors are definitely true. One more week till we all know if we have a job or no job going into 2026. Really su-ks that this is our reality, hoping for the best.

Total head count by Q1 2026 will be over 35K employees accross whole company. That’s been confirmed by higher ups in my department.

They are mostly going after call centers and stores. AI implementation.

• Band 3 employee

Belk is the cr-ppiest company to work for. They want so much done. Like markdowns, markups, 5000 times the freight, customer service, credit, apps, sale sets, fullfillement, etc... all under minimum hours. Stores look like cr-p, can't recover, always on the register or having to do other things because God forbid they don't meet the numbers for them. Not to mention the dock, corporate watches the camera to see if your dock is cleared (he-l no it isn't, we have no hours and no time), they don't support there associates!!
But corporate has time to throw lavish parties in Charlotte and open new stores 🙄 that they won't staff correctly with a abundance amount of work to do. How about stop having stores hire if you won't give the stores hours to give them, common sence there. Do not work for Belk. They take all there associates and salary managers for granted. Less pay, less help, but more workload!!!!

How about everyone just shows up to work and do nothing, just sit down and play with our phones and send a message to the big wigs

dealing with amazon might be sweet in the beginning but it will ki-l you down the line.

Yes, amazon will deliver few billion dollars of sales immediately but keeping them close will ki-l you down the line by cutting independence, originality, fresh new views, objectivity!!
Look at Toys are us, book publishers and latest victim is turns out is UPS. This is short list that comes to my head

Nike be free and independent !!!

It is more than 15K if Retail is IN ADDITION to the 15K Corp layoffs

I know a restructure was said to take place and 180 store closures.. do you think we will restructure all of the territories? How do we think Sr. Directors and Directors will be impacted? Or possibly Sr. Managers and Assistant Managers?

A reliable source is telling me that all corporate stores in Alaska / Hawaii are going to be either closed or sold off to an indirect. I think it's fewer than 15 stores in both areas.

Spoke with a supervisor who confirmed today that layoffs are coming and also added that layoffs will be for managers and stores. Also layoffs will will happen before Nov 20. It was indicated some managers will be gone before then. They had meetings today and word is they will know on Friday.

Reports that Verizon leadership had denied mass closings are false. I work closely with Global Real Estate. We have stopped renewing some Retail leases about a year ago in preparation for mass closings. This will equate to about 2/3 stores per district being closed. Verizon wants out of the expensive in-person experience and move to AI. By 2030 all retail will be shifted to an app.

I wish everyone here the best.

I happen to be watching the Maple Leafs / Bruins game. Shell seems to be a sponsor as there is a very large Shell pectin on the ice. What is Shell’s tie to Boston (unless it’s just retail stations)?

Target perfectly fits the description of a company experiencing culture rot. Bad leaders that are more interested in promoting their own careers than they are developing teams. A working environment that feels competitive, not collaborative. Increasingly confusing “shared” values internally and externally. An in-store experience that is confusing and disjointed. Items out of stock or locked up. Nothing feels unique about Target. The company continues to alienate its key consumers. Target is a company rotting from the inside out. It is impossible to change the direction the company is going without acknowledging its current failings.

They will be reducing the corporate retail store footprint. Some stores will be converting to indirects. With that being said they will be offering Voluntary VSP’s and then eventually layoffs with severence packages. 100% accurate info. Announcements coming November 19th/20th

Since Amazon's leadership took over Walmart, the first thing they did was undermine the Walmart culture. Furthermore, they have become deeply entrenched, leading to frequent layoffs both in the past and present. No projects are progressing; everything appears to be at a standstill. It seems as though Amazon's board of directors has dispatched these individuals to Walmart as part of a covert operation to dismantle it, rendering Walmart internally ineffective. This strategy appears designed to ensure that Amazon can thrive exclusively in the retail market. The IT department at Walmart has been significantly disrupted for the past couple of years, making it challenging to regain its footing.

I work in a part of the country that has stores very widely stretched out.. some of our store are 30-60 miles from each other. What do we think the likelihood of those stores being closed? There is a big city near us that has 13 stores of the 20 in our state... I would think the store closures are going to more impact where we have a high concentration of stores...

MW region here
Is it true that TMs that are capped out will no longer receive a bonus when their annual JD happens?

Mostly higher ranking, left on their own. I'm guessing this is a sure sign that we're closing?

Just curious if anyone other flex employees are being told they must work a minimum of 15hr a week for the Holidays?

Belk has received the dubious distinction of being one of the top 100 worst companies to work for in the United States by retail world magazine. Enough said.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mohamedamer_retailstrategy-organizationaltransformation-activity-7392217719959396353-hAdx?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAAAgtY3sBYDFnclM5iLdHkOCfHOYJbmAQVAQ&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link

Can’t wait to see that

https://www.androidauthority.com/verizon-shutting-down-stores-3613951/

The cuts were probably done to fund the sales they are having this year for Early Black Friday deals to draw traffic back into stores

Rumors are swirling about the pending layoffs in store. I'm hoping that the cuts will not involve the customer service areas of our organization. If anything, we should be cutting the fat at the top. How many Market Presidents are there in the retail channel and what exact value do they bring? Our guy comes to Wisconsin, makes a big deal of his dinner plans and that's about all. As I said before - too much fat at the top.

Link to the List: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/11/06/saks-off-5th-closing-stores/87130773007/
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONe7-2bJ6WM

Or do we not make enough money to be considered "cutting costs?"

9 more off 5th gone... That chain is looked at as weak..just like our last call was .meanwhile Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's increasing outlets .credit customers. and locations..
Slowly but surely it and the debt gonna eat us allive

Nearly 6 years ago when the pandemic began, it looked like Sears and Kmart were going to go under... so how are they still in business almost 6 years later??

Just curious what’s the average pay for a Merchandising Team Manager or a Sales Team Manager if anyone knows? Like how much are these assistant store managers making when most of them just sit around and do nothing all day!