Verizon Communications, the largest telecommunications company in the United States, announced Thursday a massive layoff plan to reduce its non-union workforce by up to 20%, representing a cut of more than 13,000 jobs. The hiring dossier is part of the restructuring plan launched by the new CEO, Dan Schulman.
It has incorporated Spaniard Alfonso Villanueva into its team as executive vice president and director of transformation.
The layoffs began Thursday, according to an internal memo from the company’s CEO. In the letter, Schulman points out that Verizon’s current cost structure “limits” its ability to invest, specifically targeting customer experience, according to AP.
The layoffs affect employees at all levels and in all areas of the company, including store staff, customer service representatives and some senior executives. Most of the affected employees will leave Verizon’s workforce before the end of the year. Schulman indicated that employees can expect further restructuring in the coming weeks.
“We must reorient our entire company to retain and satisfy our customers,” Schulman wrote. He added that the company needed to streamline its operations “to address the complexity and friction that slows us down and frustrates our customers.”
Verizon has a workforce of nearly 100,000 full-time workers, according to filings with the stock market regulator (SEC) with data dating back to the end of last year. A spokesperson for the operator explained that the staff adjustment plan will affect approximately 20% of the company’s management staff, which is not unionised.
Schulman, Verizon’s top independent director, was named CEO last October after two consecutive quarters of subscriber losses and weak stock performance. The new executive promised a “simpler, more efficient and more ambitious” company.
Verizon has faced increasing competition in both the wireless and home sectors, particularly from AT&T, T-Mobile and other large players in the market.
“Our current cost structure limits our ability to meaningfully invest in our customer value proposition,” Schulman wrote in the letter. “We need to reorient our entire company toward the goal of satisfying and delighting our customers,” he said.
Schulman has hired Spaniard Alfonso Villanueva as executive vice president and chief transformation officer. Both had worked together at Paypal. He is an executive with more than two decades of experience in strategy, business development, transformation, data science and innovation in some of the world’s leading financial services and technology organizations.
Villanueva is a member of the board of directors of Bankinter and Europ Assistance, a multinational insurance company. He directed Albar Court Ventures, a company specializing in strategic investments in technology. Villanueva was also a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, where he led the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) business in the Asia-Pacific region. He was also Chief Innovation Officer at SingTel, where he helped launch the company’s digital division and venture capital fund.
