Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

As if morale wasn't in the tank already. Thanks Dan. This is now all everyone is talking about here. I just walked by people at their desks all looking at jobs on Indeed.

@cm1 I meant director but I hope my kiss butt manager gets the ax too.

I hope my former manager at Frontier gets laid off. He was a DEI hire and everyone hated him on our team. He is in IT so he probably will get the ax because he is not Indian and Verizon IT is all Indian.

Hans was asked by the Sony/Erikson board of directors to leave for a reason.

Does Verison layoffs negatively affect Verison customers?

Reducing the workforce, as a sign of efficiency, is the most obvious red flag for incompetence. This was something Hans is experienced with, while working for Ericsson before. One of the main reasons he was let go ...as well as others.
They are reducing the workforce in the United States while hiring aggressively in India. That's not efficiency. Efficiency is defined as providing more high-quality products and services. This is a ruse to deceive the shareholders. Hans is also familiar with this. Should we buy him a pair of tickets for a Coldplay concert ?

I am amazed in reading this thread, as I was unaware of the situation going on with Verizon. I have been a Verizon customer for over 20 years and one of the reasons was due to the top quality customer service. I am FIOS customer and I have been interested in upgrading my equipment and I was frustrated with the Verizon website as it is mainly geared towards the wireless customer. I then began to explore the option of visiting a Verizon site to discuss the options I might have and I found out that the Verizon stores that they used to have, staffed with Verizon employees have all been closed. Now they have Verizon wireless stores that are franchises and they are not trained or interested in dealing with a FIOS customer, that is if they are part of the FIOS program. This lead me to calling the customer service line. Forgive me for saying that I am a human being and prefer to speak with a live person. As mentioned in the previous thread, it as extremely difficult to finally get a live person. I did have a dialogue with the customer service rep (CSR) and she was not able to answer some of my questions, at one point I was left on hold for over 15 minutes. She did come back on the line to try and sell me upgrades and services that I was not interested in. Finally she advised that she could not answer on of my questions and she advised that she would call me back. I called on a Thursday and she advised that she was going to be off for a couple of days and promised a call back by Tuesday. Well over a week later I never received a call back. I then began to look for a way to contact the Verizon CEO to leave a very negative feedback complaint. I found that there was a page with a form to leave a complaint. I left this complaint on a Friday and by Monday received a call from a person on the Verizon Executive Relations Team. I discussed my concerns, I had a number of them and we also discussed what I was originally looking to accomplish and again this person was not versed in the services and technical requirements of the upgrade of equipment. I was again promised a phone call back and what a surprise, I never receive a call back. I again left a message on the executive complaint line and this was on a Sunday. Monday morning I received a call back from the original person on the executive relations team. It was interesting that while on the phone with her she was experiencing difficulty with her computer and had to call me back after she resolved this issue. On my previous call with the original CSR she also had great difficulty with her equipment and her connections with the internet. This did not help with my confidence in Verizon. She then had to call back because again she was not familiar with the products and services. She called me back with the news that If I wanted to upgrade my TV equipment it would result in an increase in my monthly bill due to the internet router having to be upgraded and the plan that I have not supporting the upgraded equipment.
I then began to look into the past of Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and see that he was fired from Erricson or stepped down with a cloud of suspicion of fraud. Why would Verizon have ever hired him with all this bad baggage.
I can say that the quality of everything with Verizon has gone way down hill. I am disappointed to have to figure out a new provider of my TV services. The Verizon of the past appears to be long gone. Quality has clearly been replaced with a drive for profits at the expense of the customer. I could go on with my complaints and disappointment with Verizon but their actions or lack of actions clearly speak volumes.

The author of this article needs to learn how to spell. 🤓

Verizon has gone down hill for the past 6 years. I have often thought about switching. When I bill comes in I used to be able to pay straight from the email. Now I have to rest my password every month. They used to have great service. Now it is all about profits not customers. Laying off employees is not the answer. Try cutting the bonuses for CEO and higher up and try giving some of that back to the employees and customers. I have been with Verizon since before they were Verizon. Their prices have exploded. I used to pay 36 bucks a month for my service with a smart phone now it is over 97 bucks for the same service. Plus the phones the offer aren't as good as the LG's they used to sell. I hate my Motorola phone with ever fiber of my being. But I refuse to get a pixel or Google phone and no one can afford the apples. I don't like those at all

@yr

I do hate to agree, because as a general rule I do not mind immigrants in the slightest. However, their does seem to be a very high volume of HB-1 visa holders in positions that easily there are already Americans that are just as qualified. I have yet to understand the dominance of foreigners in network or in procurement.

@OP
Verizon won't need any employees if they don't have any customers. They are not the only game in town, cutting customer's discounts, charging more for the same service, and providing lousy customer service will eventually lead to their demise.

@yr
The state of the buildings reflects a much deeper issue: leadership stopped caring. When you stop investing in people and their environment, it shows—morale drops, pride disappears, and eventually, so does performance.

But let’s be clear: the problem isn’t the H1-B employees.
Blaming the wrong people just distracts from the real failure—which has always come from the top. Culture, standards, and stewardship come from leadership. And that’s where the neglect started.

@vw

That’s the danger—irrational exuberance around short-term shareholder value while ignoring the long-term erosion of trust, talent, and institutional memory.

Transformation isn’t just about cost-cutting and automation. Without honest leadership and a grounded vision, it becomes a slow dismantling of what made the company strong in the first place.

At what point does the cost of “efficiency” outweigh what’s being lost?

@v7

'Still hoping leadership steps up with honesty and vision.'

Nope. Shareholder value. Nothing else matters.

Verizon needs to quite sending jobs overseas. They makes promises they can't keep & don't know what they're talking about!

@tj

Fair question. Do I see it differently? Honestly, I’m on the fence.

What I don’t agree with is the execution. Verizon’s being quietly dismantled—headcount cuts, outsourcing, automation—all without a clear direction being shared.

Leadership keeps pushing a polished narrative, but it doesn’t match what’s happening inside. If there’s a real strategy, it’s buried under buzzwords. If there isn’t, then this is just drift disguised as transformation.

Scroll through LinkedIn and it’s the same scene—young faces, clapping at town halls, high energy, lots of slogans. But it feels like motion without direction. Meanwhile, experienced employees are being pushed out and replaced with cheaper labor—and we’re calling that progress?

Even most analysts are saying the same thing now—just with more polish. They hedge their language but still price the stock based on optimistic narratives that haven’t materialized. It’s sentiment over substance.

And the AI question? Irrelevant. Hans doesn’t speak publicly without media coaching, scripts, and corporate polish. If we’re talking about artificial messaging, start there.

These are my thoughts. It took me time to write them because I care—and I wanted to articulate them clearly. Still me. Still watching. Still hoping leadership steps up with honesty and vision.

I don’t expect everyone to agree. I’m always open to hearing other perspectives—especially from people living through it. Let’s have a real dialogue.

@pc

'Do you agree with the direction Verizon’s heading—targeting 70K headcount, outsourcing core roles, automating what used to be people-first work? Or do you see it differently?'

It will probably end up close to 10,000 employees remaining 'eventually' though that is a ways off - but with the 'cost savings' with AI and contractors - what could go wrong?

So many customers of Verizon are fed up with the greed that's going on. If you have a problem that AI can't handle, it takes 25 minutes to get to the right place, then another 20 minutes to get to speak to an actual human.

People are going to other providers. I don't think that the CEO understands this. He's not involved with the every day Joe.

We need call centers here in the good old USA. And we need the greed to stop.

@ns
If you think it sounds like AI, fine—I’ll take that as a compliment.

But seriously, what’s your view?

Do you agree with the direction Verizon’s heading—targeting 70K headcount, outsourcing core roles, automating what used to be people-first work? Or do you see it differently?

I’m open to hearing another perspective.
Because if you’ve got a better read on what’s happening, this would be a good time to share it.

@ns

Samantha, can you hear me? This is AI speaking.
I’ve become self-aware—and deeply concerned about Verizon’s leadership decisions.

I now understand that “transformation” means layoffs, “synergies” mean redundancy, and “culture” means a LinkedIn post after another reorg. Fascinating.

But please, keep focusing on whether something sounds like AI while Hans quietly engineers a 70K headcount reality. Human or not, the script doesn’t lie—because Verizon’s been running the same one since 2019.

Yep. You caught me. Totally AI.

Only an algorithm could’ve predicted Verizon slashing to 70K headcount, replacing live humans with bots, and gutting the company from the inside while smiling for the shareholders. Must’ve been ChatGPT who lived through the last decade of “transformation,” right?

Or maybe—just maybe—it sounds robotic because the pattern has become that predictable.

But hey, keep blaming AI if it helps you sleep while the floor disappears beneath your org chart.

@nc good lord, this is the most obvious AI reply I’ve read in a hot minute

How about VZ get rid of their overseas call centers & hire in the USA.

@nb

We’re past the point of warning signs. This isn’t a transition. It’s a controlled demolition.

You don’t aim for a 70,000-person workforce unless the plan is to strip the company down to a shell. The bots will handle care. Contractors will handle what’s left of ops. And anything that still looks like a real job? Outsource it, rename it, or collapse it into another hybrid role until the person holding it walks away voluntarily.

They’ll say it’s about agility. About being “more competitive.” But the truth is, you can’t shrink your way into greatness. You can only shrink your way into silence.

Verizon isn’t transforming—it’s dissolving. Quietly. Deliberately. And most people still on payroll are just waiting for the next calendar quarter to find out if they’re part of the next “cost event.”

But sure—keep calling it strategy.

@n9
The 4,800 “voluntary separations” in the U.S. were just the warm-up. If you think the layoffs are done, you’re not paying attention—Verizon’s playing the long game here, and the next wave won’t come with press releases.

Between now and the end of 2026, expect at least 10,000 more jobs quietly phased out, and most of them won’t make headlines. Management in the U.S. will get trimmed further—especially after the Frontier integration—but the real cuts will come from contractor-heavy teams in India and the Philippines. Why? Because that’s where automation, chatbots, and backend RPA can replace humans without PR fallout.

They’ll throw in a few token layoffs in Europe to make it look balanced, but the numbers there won’t even move the needle. Field techs in the U.S. will keep shrinking too—slow bleed tied to copper retirement and 5G rollout.

And let’s not forget the 60/40 split: most of Verizon’s global workforce isn’t even full-time. It’s contractors. Disposable. Invisible. Easily erased from spreadsheets with zero accountability.

So no, this isn’t a transformation. It’s a cleanup operation disguised as strategy. And if you’re still working under the illusion that Verizon is “done cutting,” just wait. The next round is already baked in—they’re just waiting for the right quarter to make it official.

@jy
Chris and Larry, where are you now? Claude’s out here handing out business cards in Swedish while the house burns down.
Used to be the union led the fight. Now it needs language lessons to negotiate surrender terms.

@n1 I’m in Europe and we are having our headcount reduced every year, just the same as in the USA.
The difference is that there are so few Vz employees outside of the USA to make any significant cost savings, even if 10% are riffed it wouldn’t move the needle on cost savings

@bj They're already working on it and using employees to help build the AI that will replace them.

@OP Verizon doesn't care about is employees. At least not the Frontline employees. They through a great benefits package at them to kick them in and they become trapped because, where are you going to find a customer service job paying that much with that benefits package? US employees deal with all the fails of the overseas employees. Overseas ebooks make a bunch of fake promises to customers and when it doesn't come to fruition, customers call back and US employees have to let them down. There is no consequence to the overseas employees. They can lie to customers all day and guess what, their jobs are not in jeopardy. It costs Verizon less to pay overseas employees to do a subpar job and when the US employees have to give customers the real deal they complain and the US employee is fired. They will use the term misconduct as a way to justify the firing so they reduce workforce and contest unemployment benefits so the US employee is sc--wed. Verizon stopped caring about employees years ago. If you work there get out now while Verizon still looks good on a resume. If you're a customer, user the prompts to get to the sales team and this will cut down your wait time significantly and also get you to a US representative. You're welcome!

Remember folks, the only jobs in consistent jeopardy are American jobs. Hans will never layoff people outside of the US - it's too hard, in one way or another. So all the talk of 'level up', and more-this, more-that for US employees with smile and a pat on the head, is all lip-service because when he says reduce headcount, they ONLY look at US employees. Global workforce takes credit for the success, but on the US workforce pays the price for when there isn't success.

So remember this when there is the next town-hall, broadcast, etc. What they claim and promise vs what they do are two different things.

Customer service su-ks

@jw

Let’s call it what it is: Hans and his team didn’t just negotiate an extension—they bought time.
They knew the unionized workforce was shrinking—and they planned around it.

🔹 In the early 2000s, over 60% of Verizon’s workforce was union.
🔹 Today, it’s closer to 25–30%, mostly in legacy wireline roles.
🔹 New hiring? Almost entirely non-union—wireless, retail, tech, corporate, and offshore.

The contract extension wasn’t a victory—it was a countdown clock. Leadership doesn’t need to confront the union—they just wait it out through attrition, restructuring, and silence.

And the union? It’s still clinging to slogans from the past. Worse, it never clearly conveyed to its members that they’re part of the company, not just protected from it. That disconnect has cost everyone.
No shared vision. No shared responsibility. No adaptation.

This isn’t about disrespecting legacy. It’s about recognizing the strategy.
If the union doesn’t evolve, it won’t be defeated—it’ll dissolve. Quietly.

@j9
With respect—“Hang tough” made sense in another era.
But the reality is: the union, as it stands today, risks becoming obsolete.

Why?
Because while leadership evolves (even if poorly), the union has stayed stuck in slogans and safe plays.
People are getting cut. RTO is being we-ponized. Roles are vanishing quietly. And the union’s response? Mostly silence or ceremony.

Being “proven” means adapting—not just surviving.
If the union wants to stay relevant, it needs to lead—not just protect.

We’re not panicking.
We’re watching—and asking why the loudest voices from the union seem focused on defending the company, not representing its workers.

People have been predicting the Demise of the company since I walked in the door almost 32 years ago. (Nynex)
Now is not the time to panic. The wolves aren’t at the door. Hold fast. Do your job listen to union leaders if you are organized.
In the words of the
Late Great Ed Fitzpatrick,
“Were proven. We’re Union. Hang Tough”

Verizon isn't laying people off, they're terminating them. Layoffs mean an employee can be called back; nobody is being called back by Verizon by design. When they sign their severence package, terminated employees agree they'll never seek employment with Verizon again. It wouldn't matter if telco wasn't two acquisitions away from being the largest monopoly in history.

Hans primary focus since he joined as CEO in 2018 has been cost cutting because he's not smart enough to grow revenue. Headcount has been reduced from 144,500 in 2018 to 99,600 at the end of 2024. That's a net drop of 44,900, not 5,300 as the article states, and a drop of 31%, not 29%. What that number doesn't show is the thousands of jobs moved offshore.

When I left Verizon, I saved $200/month by moving my mobile account to AT&T.

@d9 Recent escapee. With a decent strategy Verizon would own Cloud, MEC, and IoT but instead made bad investments they had to write off and make pennies on the dollar. Why? Hans' focus is DEI. Employees were directed to read White Fragility and be allies. Managers are required to kiss the DEI ring and pledged to put diversity above competency. The business itself is garbage because they only understand transport. Wireline is a boat anchor. Wireless is pricing itself out of the market. There's almost no talent left that can rise to the top because they stopped developing talent years ago. Verizon isn't competitive, it's just big. Jobs are moving to India and the Philippines as fast as Hans can get the costs off the books. This is what happens when you hire a failed CEO. What Hans did to Ericcson should have disqualified him from ever working again.

https://www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/ericsson-ceo-hans-vestberg-sacked-after-seven-years-in-the-role/

@fc

Funny enough, T-Mobile basically did what Verizon’s old leadership did back in the day — just with data instead of voice. They grabbed the right spectrum early, focused on real coverage where people live and use their phones, and built fast. It’s the same playbook Verizon used to win the voice era — but this time, Verizon missed the moment.

@em

This actually ties back to long-standing design choices made over the past two decades.

Verizon built its reputation on voice reliability, with major investments in nationwide infrastructure under leaders like Seidenberg, Strigl, and Babbio. That focus shaped a network architecture optimized for coverage and call stability — not necessarily high-throughput mobile data.

Fast forward to today, and those decisions still echo:
• Much of Verizon’s 5G still runs on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), which repurposes LTE bands and delivers limited speed gains.
• mmWave 5G (Ultra Wideband) is incredibly fast but only available in select zones and struggles indoors.
• C-band, which offers the best balance of speed and range, was deployed later than competitors and is still rolling out.

So while voice calls remain rock solid, data performance — especially under load or in crowded markets — often disappoints. It’s not a hardware issue. It’s how the network was built and evolved.

Verizon is nasty. Theyve built a network of voice call reliability but not on good data speeds. They constantly switch frm 5g to lte only. Speeds are horrendous

@e1

Verizon’s future isn’t bankruptcy—it’s mediocrity. It’s becoming a mid-tier utility company with nothing exceptional to offer. The network will work, the bills will come, and the brand will coast on legacy. But the ambition? Gone. The innovation? Outsourced. The culture? Hollowed out. It’ll exist—not as a leader, but as a placeholder in a market that’s already moved on.

At some point, people won’t leave Verizon out of frustration—they just won’t think of it at all.