By David Shepardson
July 16 (Reuters) – U.S. wireless carrier Verizon said on Thursday it will sell 274 company-owned retail locations and cut about 500 corporate jobs as part of its restructuring.
The moves will affect about 3,000 retail and corporate employees. Verizon will own 1,000 stores after the sale, effective August 16. Verizon eliminated several hundred jobs in May after announcing in November it was cutting more than 13,000 jobs in its largest single round of layoffs.
Previously, about 70% of employees at retail locations that Verizon sold took jobs with the new companies operating the stores, Verizon said. Six large operators run most of Verizon’s franchised stores.
Verizon said in a note to its employees it is working with franchise owners that operate 5,000 outlets “to elevate the experience in every one of their locations because we know how important they are to our overall customer experience.”
As part of its restructuring, Verizon sold 179 corporate-owned retail stores in November to franchise operators and closed one store.
Verizon named Dan Schulman, a Verizon board member since 2018, as CEO in October. Verizon competes with AT&T and T-Mobile in the saturated U.S. telecoms market, where network providers have extended device subsidies, added plan discounts and increased network infrastructure spending.
Verizon said last month it was aiming to attract customers by offering simpler plans, dropping activation and upgrade fees and unveiling a new loyalty program offering discounts and perks.
Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile agreed in May to form a joint venture to address coverage gaps, especially in rural areas, with satellite-based technologies.
Analysts suggest the joint venture could be defensive as some have raised concerns SpaceX’s Starlink could eventually compete more directly with the U.S. wireless carriers.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Rod Nickel)
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