Layoffs in the US surpass one million mark in October
Telecommunications firm Verizon will be laying off about 15,000 employees, according to reports, as job cuts in the United States exceed the one million mark.
Reuters reported that Verizon's cuts, which are around 15% of its workforce, will take place as soon as next week.
It will impact more than 20% of the telecommunication firm's non-union management ranks, according to Reuters, which also reported that about 180 corporate-owned retail stores will be converted into franchise operations.
The cuts come under Verizon CEO Dan Schulman, who said the firm is at a "critical juncture" during his appointment in early October.
"We are going to maximise our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimise our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders," Schulman previously said.
Job cuts in the United States
Verizon's layoffs come as job cuts in the United States have passed the one-million mark in October, according to the latest data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
There were 153,074 job cuts from US-based employers in October, up 183% from September and up 175% from the same month last year.
"October's pace of job cutting was much higher than average for the month. Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a statement.
"Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labour market."
This also brings the total job cuts in the country to 1,099,500 cuts, up 65% from the first 10 months of last year and higher by 44% from the cuts announced in all of 2024.
This is also the highest level of year-to-date job cuts since 2020, when 2,304,755 cuts were announced through October, according to the report.
The leading reason for this year's job cuts is the Department of Government Efficiency, which was cited in 293,753 planned layoffs so far this year. An additional 20,796 cuts were also attributed to the downstream impact of the agency.
For the month of October, cost-cutting emerged as the leading reason for the cuts, as cited in 50,437 announced layoffs.
Artificial intelligence emerged as the second-highest factor, responsible for 31,039 job cuts. It has also been cited for 48,414 job cuts so far this year.
Market and Economic Conditions were responsible for 21,104 job cuts in October. This is followed by Closings (16,739 cuts) and Restructuring (7,558 cuts).
