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Rumored Verizon decision will let down both customers and employees

Verizon might shut down stores and let AI take over.

By Anam Hamid

Published: Nov 06, 2025, 6:49 PM

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Verizon

Verizon may start cutting jobs and shuttering stores as soon as this month, per employees who caught a whiff of the change.

Reducing physical footprint

Sources claiming to be Verizon employees have heard chatter that the company plans to announce mass layoffs on November 20. While the company reportedly hasn't specifically said which units will be downsized, concurrent talk of store closures suggests that store staff jobs will be on the chopping block. Per one employee, even some corporate employees will be let go.

Internal leaks show that Verizon is planning on closing stores and cutting workforce.

Justshyofcool, Reddit user, November 2025

I’ve seen a couple of people here mention that 11/20 is the date for the mass layoffs. Its so crazy to me that the whole company is aware of the layoffs but unaware where specifically.

awkwardpersun, Reddit user, November 2025

This appears to be driven by Verizon's plan to outsource certain roles to AI, rendering many employees redundant.

I work in a corporate store and the talks around my district are that stores will be closed down. Mostly the stores that cost a lot to stay open with little ROI.

Sanabroho10, Reddit user, November 2025

We saw it coming

In June, Verizon announced Project 624, an AI-fueled overhaul of its customer care. It was the company's big bet on AI to improve how its customers were served.

At that time, the company said that human agents were a part of its push to offer better personalized customer service. It also took pride in having the largest retail postpaid fleet and revealed that 93 percent of the population lived within 30 minutes of a Verizon store.

Of course, companies never reveal in advance that they might need fewer workers in the future. And with customer care duties getting offloaded to AI, it may think that it has no reason to keep as many employees as it does now.

Verizon's new CEO Dan Schulman wants to focus on efficiency to reduce costs, as three consecutive quarters of customer losses have taught the company that it can't rely on price increases to plump up revenue.

As a customer, would you be fine with Verizon closing stores?

Verizon's next mistake?

Schulman has committed to making transformative changes to keep customers happy. However, replacing human agents with AI might backfire. After all, many Verizon customers have already made it clear that they don't appreciate being served by AI instead of a human representative. AI tools may have come a long way, but some questions require human cognition.

On the flip side, some customers may be relieved at not having to deal with sales representatives, as they can sometimes be pushy to meet their sales targets.

T-Mobile has been discouraging in-store visits for quite some time now. With Verizon seemingly heading down the same path, the telecom industry is facing a fundamental, AI-driven shift in how customers are served.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

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