Verizon $VZ said Thursday that it will sell 274 company-owned retail locations and cut about 500 corporate jobs, moves that will affect roughly 3,000 retail and corporate employees in total.
The store divestiture, effective Aug. 16, will leave Verizon with about 1,000 corporate-owned retail locations, according to Reuters. Most of the 3,000 affected positions will come from the store sales rather than the corporate reductions, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to an internal memo reviewed by The Journal, leadership concluded that maintaining at least 1,000 company-owned stores over the coming three years is central to Verizon's long-term strategic plan. The company had about 89,900 full-time employees at the end of 2025, the company said.
The 274 stores will be sold to franchise operators. Verizon said in a note to employees that it is working with franchise owners running 5,000 outlets to strengthen the customer experience at those locations. Six large operators run most of Verizon's franchised stores, the company said. When Verizon sold stores in November, roughly seven in ten retail employees at those locations ended up accepting positions with the incoming operators.
Thursday's announcement reflects a continuing pattern of workforce reductions at Verizon. The company confirmed an earlier wave of cuts totaling several hundred positions in May, roughly six months after eliminating more than 13,000 jobs in its largest-ever single round of layoffs. That November restructuring also included the sale of about 179 corporate-owned retail stores to franchise operators.
CEO Dan Schulman, who took the role in October, has pursued cost reductions alongside efforts to simplify Verizon's customer offerings. Last month the company unveiled a streamlined pricing approach that eliminates activation and upgrade fees and introduces a new rewards program for subscribers. Verizon's first-quarter 2026 results showed its first positive first-quarter net gain in postpaid phone subscribers since 2013.
Verizon competes with AT&T $T and T-Mobile $TMUS in the U.S. wireless market, where carriers have extended device subsidies, added plan discounts, and increased network infrastructure spending, the company said. That same month, the three rivals announced a joint venture to tackle connectivity dead zones, with a particular focus on underserved rural communities, through satellite-based technology.