Verizon to Cut 13,000 Jobs, Set Up $20 Million “Reskilling” Fund for Laid Off Staff In “Age of AI”

If this is the year of publicly-traded companies signaling to Wall Street that they’re going to do more with less, in preparation for an AI-driven economy, add Verizon to the list of giants cutting a substantial number of jobs in a pivot.

The company, newly led by former PayPal mogul Dan Schulman, said Thursday that it is reducing its workforce by 13,000 employees and cutting its outsourced and outside labor expenses. As of the end of Dec. 2024, Verizon had 99,600 full-time staffers, some 88 percent of them are based in the U.S.

The cuts are not unusual: Amazon revealed it was slashing 14,000 jobs, Microsoft has exited 15,000 employees, Paramount’s new ownership is cutting roughly 2,000 roles and many other blue-chip companies have seen a thousand-plus staffers cut this year. CEOs have implied that they’re reshaping reshaping workforces to compete in the AI age — whether that’s the reason for the timing of the cuts has been debated.

One interesting detail in Verizon’s Nov. 20 announcement is the unveiling of a $20 million program for those 13,000 cut employees in “reskilling” (i.e. retraining) the staffers that are being exited, in hopes of finding them new roles at other companies.

“To help our people prepare for their future, we have established a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for employees departing Verizon,” Schulman wrote in a public memo. “This fund will focus on skill development, digital training and job placement to help our people take their next steps. Verizon is the first company to set up a fund to specifically focus on the opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI. It is my intent to also work with other companies and the public sector to address the opportunities and challenges in a world where technology will impact all of us.”

One employee that was recently exited at the telcom giant was CEO Hans Vestberg, who had led the company for eight years and was bumped from the role on Oct. 6. During Vestberg’s tenure he effectively shuffled Verizon out of the media business, selling Yahoo and AOL to private equity giant Apollo for $5 billion. He’ll stay on as an advisor through next October.

During Schulman’s first earnings call as CEO on October 29, he candidly set expectations for a major shake-up. “When I look at our performance objectively, Verizon is clearly falling short of our potential,” the exec told analysts.

“For the past few years, our financial growth has relied too heavily on price increases, a strategic approach that relies too much on price without subscriber growth is not a sustainable strategy,” Schulman added. “This cannot continue, and there is no question that meaningful change is needed.”

The new CEO thinks AI will reverse that trend. “I am a strong believer in the growing power and resulting opportunities created by AI,” he said on the call. “We have barely scratched the surface of how AI-powered innovation can transform our customer experience. I intend to use AI as a key tool to simplify offers, improve the customer experience and reduce churn through smart, consistent and more personalized marketing and offers.”

Year-to-date Verizon stock has been mostly flat, as of Nov. 20 it’s trading at $40.78 a share and is up about 1 percent for the year.