Verizon Cuts Hundreds More Jobs Six Months After Its Largest-Ever Layoff

A second wave, six months later

Verizon confirmed on May 7 that it is cutting several hundred jobs across the United States, with its Basking Ridge, New Jersey headquarters taking the largest share of the reductions. The company declined to specify an exact count but said the cuts represent under 1% of its global workforce.

The announcement comes roughly six months after Verizon completed what it called its largest-ever single round of layoffs — more than 13,000 positions eliminated in late 2024 under incoming CEO Dan Schulman. Schulman, who took the CEO role in October 2024, described those cuts as inevitable given the company's eroded margins and the need to fund reinvestment in core areas.

Targeted cuts, not a blanket RIF

Verizon's framing this time is notably narrow. A company spokesperson said: 'We're continuing to add headcount to grow parts of the business that are growing while making targeted job reductions to portions of the business where this is needed.' Employees affected can apply to more than 1,000 open roles currently listed on the company's careers page.

Smaller business units are bearing the brunt of this round, with Basking Ridge seeing the heaviest concentration. The company explicitly ruled out AI as a factor in these cuts — an unusual public statement at a moment when many companies are using automation investment as cover for headcount reduction.

The AI footnote that matters

Verizon's denial of AI-driven cuts sits alongside a very different narrative from its own earnings call. CEO Schulman highlighted a 70% reduction in vendor support costs and a 40% gain in software code output — both attributed directly to AI tooling. He also cited a 1,280 basis point improvement in customer satisfaction scores from AI-powered voice agents.

Whether AI is a 'cause' of any specific layoff is a harder question than it first appears. What's clear is that Verizon is aggressively deploying AI across network operations, customer service, and software development — and that CFO Anthony Skiadas has said efficiency efforts will extend past 2026. The distinction between 'AI-caused' and 'AI-adjacent' workforce reduction is one most large employers are now navigating carefully.

The turnaround case is building

The layoffs arrive alongside a Q1 2026 earnings report that gave Verizon's transformation thesis its first concrete proof points. The company posted 55,000 postpaid phone net additions — its first positive Q1 performance on that metric since 2013. Adjusted EPS reached $1.28, up 7.6% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA grew 6.7% to $13.4 billion, which Verizon described as its highest quarterly figure in company history.

Schulman raised full-year adjusted EPS growth guidance from 4-5% to 5-6% and moved the postpaid phone net add target to the upper half of its 750,000 to 1 million range. Total Q1 revenue came in at $34.4 billion, up 2.9% year over year — though it missed analyst estimates slightly. Consumer postpaid phone churn improved 5 basis points sequentially to 90 basis points, with further improvement to below 85 basis points by March.

Verizon also consolidated Frontier Communications into its financials starting January 20, following the closure of that fiber internet acquisition — adding broadband scale to a business that has been under pressure from T-Mobile and AT&T for years.

The $5 billion restructuring in context

These cuts are part of a $5 billion operating expense reduction program that CFO Skiadas has mapped across several categories: decommissioning legacy copper infrastructure, reducing inbound customer service calls through AI, consolidating IT systems, rationalizing real estate, and the workforce reductions carried out since late 2024. Most of the 13,000 employees from Q4 2024 were off payroll by Q1 2026.

Separately, Verizon has been building out what it calls AI Connect — a fiber and wavelength infrastructure play targeting hyperscaler data centers. The company has signed an agreement with AWS to build long-haul fiber routes connecting AWS data center locations, with Skiadas noting additional hyperscaler deals are in place. If that segment scales, it could offset continued pressure in legacy wireline business.

What to watch

• Whether efficiency gains show up in operating margins on the next earnings call — until then, the restructuring thesis is still being proven.
• Verizon's AI Connect hyperscaler deals: early traction here could materially change the revenue story for the Business segment.
• The pace of fiber expansion through Frontier — broadband penetration is central to Schulman's long-term subscriber strategy.
• How Verizon communicates any further workforce adjustments, given the scrutiny on the AI-jobs question across the telecom sector.

Sources