Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ ) are trading lower Thursday. The telecommunications company will lay off thousands of workers in the coming weeks, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

VZ is trading at 8.8x earnings, below market average. Track the action here.

What To Know: Verizon plans to lay off 13,000 employees in an effort to cut costs. It’s the company’s largest-ever round of layoffs and will significantly impact outsourced and outside labor, according to an email from CEO Dan Schulman that was viewed by the Journal. The report indicates that Verizon will begin notifying impacted workers this week.

According to Verizon’s most recent annual report, the company ended 2024 with roughly 99,600 employees.

"Our current cost structure limits our ability to invest significantly in our customer value proposition," Schulman reportedly wrote in an email to employees. "We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers."

Schulman also said the company is starting a $20 million career transition fund to train employees for the age of artificial intelligence.

The company has experienced slow growth in recent years. Total consumer revenue last quarter, which was $26.1 billion, only grew 2.9% year-over-year. And the company’s business segment actually decreased 2.8% year-over-year, coming in at $7.1 billion.

VZ Price Action: Verizon shares were down 0.42%, trading at $41.02 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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