Hold tight! Verizon is shaking things up in a big, big way. A reliable source told Reuters that the telecom giant will cut about 15,000 jobs — that’s nearly 15% of all its staff! This is the biggest layoff Verizon has ever done. The cuts are expected to begin next week. On X (formerly Twitter), popular finance creator Meet Kevin caught everyone’s attention by posting, “Verizon stock ROCKETS while market is crashing as they say they're firing 15,000 workers.” And guess what? Verizon shares jumped around 1.7%, even though the bigger market was falling. This dramatic move comes just after Dan Schulman, the former PayPal CEO, became Verizon’s new chief in early October. He’s on a mission to change the company’s game. The job cuts will hit mainly non-union management jobs, slashing over 20% of that group, said the source. But that’s not all! Verizon is also planning to turn about 180 corporate stores into franchises. This means independent operators will soon run these stores, shaking up the retail setup. Verizon hasn’t made any official comments yet. The scoop on the layoffs first appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Dan Schulman recently said Verizon must overhaul its costs. “Cost transformation, fundamentally restructuring our expense base... We will be a simpler, leaner and scrappier business,” he declared. He also stressed that Verizon won’t raise prices unfairly. Schulman said, “Our financial growth has relied too heavily on price increases... a strategic approach that relies too much on price without subscriber growth is not a sustainable strategy,” according to Reuters. By the end of 2024, Verizon had about 100,000 workers in the U.S., but tough competition from AT&T and T-Mobile is heating up. The mobile market is crowded, and fewer customers want expensive plans. To sum it up, Verizon’s massive layoffs and store changes mark a bold attempt to survive and thrive in the cutthroat telecom world. Will this gamble pay off? Stay tuned!