Verizon plans to cut 3,000 jobs and sell 274 company-owned retail stores to franchise owners next month as the wireless giant continues to slash costs as part of its latest restructuring strategy under CEO Dan Schulman.

Roughly 2,500 retail employees whose stores will transition to franchise ownership will be laid off, along with another 500 corporate workers whose positions are to be eliminated.

The Verizon-to-franchise ownership transfers are set to take effect on August 16th, leaving the wireless carrier with roughly 1,000 company-owned retail locations across the US.

Thousands of workers affected

The latest job cuts follow Verizon’s sacking of 13,000 employees only weeks before the holiday season kicked off last November, as well as several hundred additional layoffs in May.

About 179 Verizon-owned retail stores were also transferred to franchisees to coincide with the pink slips last fall.

The job cuts are part of the of Shulman’s overall strategy to “reset, restructure, and realign” the carriers priorities and help recapture its spot as the nation’s “leading communications provider," the former PayPal president said at the time.

Its estimated that after this third cut, about 20% of Verizon’s pre-November 2025 workforce will have been affected. Verizon has said that the layoffs are not triggered by the use of AI.

Schulman's strategy plan

Schulman, who was appointed CEO last October, has pursued an aggressive restructuring designed to reduce operating expenses by $5 billion in 2026.

The strategy plan also includes reorganizing parts of its business around Verizon's Mobile, Home, and Value brands, and investing in premium retail experiences.

Still, Verizon said most retail workers are expected to remain employed under the new franchise operators rather than lose their jobs outright.

Six large operators now run most of Verizon's franchised stores, including Victra, the largest, Cellular Sales, and Russell Cellular..

The telecommunications giant also noted that about 70% of employees affected by those previous store sales ultimately accepted positions with those acquired locations.

The company has not released a public list of the 274 affected stores.

Employees react to another restructuring

In a note sent to employees on Thursday, Schulman said it was working with franchise owners at its remaining 5,000 locations to “elevate” the overall customer experience.

Still, that was little consolation for the employees about to lose their jobs.

On Reddit, some Verizon workers shared information about the restructuring before the company's public announcement.

Users on a Verizon subreddit even created a mega-thread for affected stores and employees to exchange information and support.

One former Verizon employee said the latest cuts fit a long-running pattern.

"Former VZ employee here, Verizon has been doing regular layoffs since early 2000s, this is routine operations for them! Just to give you an idea, when I was with them in the early to mid 00s, they had over 250k employees, today it is down to around 90k,”

they said.

"Telcos operate on very thin margins, and gone are the glory days of stable wireline income," they added.

Others argued the shrinking retail footprint reflects changing consumer habits.

This Redditor commented they were surprised Verizon would still operate about 1,000 company-owned stores after the sale, adding that “ordering phones online, activating devices with eSIM technology, and paying bills digitally have reduced the need for traditional wireless stores.”

Last November, Verizon would establish a “$20 million career transition fund” for laid-off workers to expand their "opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI."