Major wireless carrier T-Mobile announced on Thursday that it is cutting nearly 5,000 jobs in an effort to “improve efficiency and effectiveness and save costs.”
According to an email from CEO Mike Sievert, the layoffs will take place over the next five weeks, impacting thousands of positions and around 7% of the company’s “total employees in locations across the country.”
The cuts will primarily affect corporate and back-office roles, as well as technology positions, Sievert said, adding that he doesn’t predict “any additional widespread company reductions again in the foreseeable future.”
“Today’s changes are all about getting us efficiently focused on a finite set of winning strategies, so that we can continue to out-pace our competitors and have the financial capability to deliver a differentiated network and customer experience to a continually growing customer base, while simultaneously meeting our obligations to our shareholders,” Sievert explained.
The CEO said he wants T-Mobile “to be a better place to work for every employee going forward.”
“We can be smarter, faster, and even better at competing, by streamlining our operating model and structure to reduce the complexity. You have my commitment that our organization will create more individual empowerment and faster decision-making over time,” Sievert added.
“This is about re-prioritizing our work and doing it differently, NOT about foisting more work on fewer people. And, it is about optimizing every dollar, so it can be used to deliver a better network, a better value, and a better experience for our customers.”
Like T-Mobile, Dick’s Sporting Goods recently unveiled a “business optimization plan,” which included a significant number of layoffs, primarily within its customer support center.
The decision, announced in a company press release, is set to cost the retailer $20 million in severance payments this quarter as the company steers its focus toward other investment areas.
