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The news was announced in an email sent to all employees by Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman, viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The internal message said that the layoffs will begin with the job cut of 13,000 employees, making it the largest such drive at the biggest wireless carrier in the US. "Our current cost structure limits our ability to invest significantly in our customer value proposition," Schulman said in the note to employees. "We must simplify our operations to address the complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers," the letter mentions further. The Verizon CEO further said that the company will significantly reduce outsourced and other outside labour expenses. "We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers," he wrote. The Verizon layoffs will shrink the company by as much as 20% of its non-union workforce as Verizon moves to take a major step towards Schulman's turnaround plan. Verizon also said it plans to convert 179 corporate-owned retail stores into franchised operations and close one store. Verizon will still hold 1,300 corporate-owned stores and more than 6,000 franchises, a spokesperson told Bloomberg. Verizon planned to cut 15,000 jobs According to reports by Reuters, Wall Street Journal and others, Verizon initially planned to lay off 15,000 employees. However, the company's leadership changed its mind to scale back the job cuts since last week, as per a WSJ report quoting a person familiar with the matter. Most of the job cuts will affect Verizon's US employees, Reuters reported. The US employees who are getting the pink slips will be notified on Thursday itself, while some employees abroad may be informed of their status in coming weeks, WSJ reported quoting the person with knowledge of the matter. As of February, Verizon had approximately 100,000 employees in the US, securities filings show. Most of them are non-unionized. Verizon Layoffs: AI stealing jobs? Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said the company was establishing a $20 million career transition fund for laid-off employees to focus on the "opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI." Verizon said the job cuts were not the result of the company's use of AI. The wireless carrier faces mounting market pressure amid concerns over a shrinking pool of new customers as older rivals offer cheaper plans and cable operators jump into the fray. Since he took over as CEO in October, Schulman pledged to "aggressively transform our culture, our cost structure, and the financial profile of Verizon in order to put our customers first, compete effectively, and deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders."