Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)'s CEO Tells Employees Last Month's Layoffs Were Inevitable

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is among the Top 15 Lowest P/E Ratios of the S&P 500 in 2025. On December 5, Barron’s reported that it had seen a video of the company’s live employee webcast on Friday, the first since last month’s mass layoffs.

According to the report, Verizon’s CEO, Daniel Schulman, was blunt in explaining the downsizing. The company has lost between 5% and 7% of its market share over the past five years, which has pressured the telecommunications giant’s top line, according to Schulman, who also noted the growing churn rate as a result of rising rates.

Schulman further added that Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)’s customer satisfaction scores were lagging behind rivals, and that the company was partly responsible for the situation, as the employees did not have the ‘financial flexibility’ to do what was needed of them.

Considering these factors, the Verizon CEO described the layoffs as inevitable and said the cuts would help the company allocate funds to something larger. He was quoted as saying the following by Barron’s:

“because if we don’t have enough money to put back into our value proposition to customers, we are going to continue to shrink.”

Schulman said he presented his plans for 2026 during his first Board meeting as Chief Executive the prior week and will share more details when he speaks with Wall Street analysts next.

However, Schulman’s recent statements suggest that an increased focus on AI and improved customer service will be among his major goals for next year, according to Barron’s.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) provides communications, technology, information, and streaming services to clients worldwide.

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