AT&T and Verizon won't stop cutting jobs

Long-time observers of AT&T and Verizon may be wondering how low they can go on headcount. In mid-September, Verizon made the telecom news with a securities filing that warned around 4,800 jobs would be cut by March next year at a severance cost of about $1.8 billion. Without any hiring to offset those cuts, this would leave it with fewer than 100,000 employees for the first time this millennium. Just as many people shrivel in their advanced years, the ageing US telephone company has continued to shed weight in the form of its workers. The same is true at AT&T, Verizon's oldest rival. At the turn of the century, the two companies employed more than 475,000 people. By the end of June this year, that number had plummeted to below 250,000.