Verizon Sells 274 Stores and Cuts 500 Corporate Jobs

Verizon Communications Inc. announced on July 16, 2026, that it will sell 274 company-owned retail locations to six different entities and eliminate approximately 500 corporate positions. The store sales, effective August 16, will leave the company with 1,000 company-owned stores and roughly 5,000 franchised outlets. While the restructuring affects roughly 3,000 employees in total, the company expects most retail staff to be hired by the new independent operators.

These measures are part of a broader strategy led by CEO Dan Schulman to reduce operating costs by $5 billion by the end of 2026. The cuts follow previous reductions, including several hundred positions in May and over 13,000 employees in November. Specific regional impacts include the layoff of 54 employees in Washington state, ranging from retail managers to corporate directors, effective September 18.

To remain competitive against AT&T and T-Mobile, the company is introducing simpler plans and a new loyalty program. Although a spokesperson stated the current layoffs are not related to artificial intelligence, Schulman has predicted that AI will eventually replace a large percentage of customer service work to improve service quality.