Verizon customers may be experiencing negative effects from the company's downsizing efforts.

A Verizon store is pictured. | Image Credit - Fierce Wireless

Did Verizon fully consider the consequences?

On Monday, Verizon revealed plans to cut 13,000 positions and convert 179 locations into franchises. This accounts for around 13 percent of their total workforce.

The staff reductions are already impacting Verizon's operations.

District directors, who were the primary link between retail locations and Verizon's Vice President, are gone. Stores must now contact the VP directly with issues, which slows down the process. Store operations will also be impacted by the elimination of directors, who ensured things ran smoothly.

Business directors were also terminated. Business representatives will have to handle the additional workload without additional compensation, which will likely affect service for business clients.

Victra, a Verizon authorized reseller, is reportedly purchasing corporate stores. Victra's capacity to assist customers appears limited, as they frequently send them to functioning corporate stores.

Instead of reassigning staff to understaffed stores, Verizon chose to lay them off. This choice will likely require the company to hire and train new staff, which will be more expensive than just reassigning current employees.

The customer service department is now understaffed after the layoffs, and callers are being routed to other departments that lack the training to address issues like order reversals.

Important structural roles were also cut. The operations team, which assisted with store procedures and technical support, was reduced. Also, district managers, who were crucial to maintaining store structure, were let go.

Verizon's new strategy to streamline operations will likely frustrate customers in the short term. Verizon hopes the remaining staff will focus on delighting customers and regaining market share, but the current unstable environment is not favorable to achieving this goal.

ThatCatWhatPonPon, a Reddit user, wrote in November 2025: "The Leaner Brand the new team is pushing will be something of a pain for the customers experiencing it for the short term. I've heard talks of people generating transfer pins en masse to scare the higher ups (if you're doing that, turn on port lock). No idea what they expect reps to do, hearing their friends and coworkers are being fired around them. Its not exactly the sort of headspace you want someone to drive sales and a good expirience for customers to be in."

Schulman has a lot to manage.

Dan Schulman succeeded Hans Vestberg last month, after Vestberg was unexpectedly fired because of poor performance. Customers switched to competing networks as a result of Vestberg's flawed network plan and widespread price increases.

Schulman has taken over a Verizon that needs to recover from Vestberg's mistakes. The current layoffs, which are the largest in the company's history, demonstrate that the executive is willing to make difficult decisions.

The cutbacks are affecting the company's capacity to provide customer support. The positions that held store employees accountable have been eliminated. By creating issues and then expecting corporate stores to resolve them, third-party stores are making the problem worse.

Employees who are still employed by Verizon are under stress as a result of the layoffs of their coworkers and the additional responsibilities being placed upon them.

Change can be challenging.

It's not surprising that operations are in chaos so soon after the layoffs. However, given Verizon's already precarious situation with dissatisfied customers, this new strategy could have disastrous consequences. Schulman has a history of helping businesses succeed, so he probably has a plan, even if it is not immediately apparent.