Comcast’s workforce shrank, Charter’s grew in 2022

Comcast exited 2022 with several thousand fewer employees than it had the year prior, but cable rival Charter Communications significantly expanded its own workforce over the same period. The changes highlight the different approaches the operators are taking to cut costs and drive efficiency as macroeconomic challenges mount. It’s not necessarily a surprise that Comcast’s employee count dropped given the operator confirmed layoffs in its cable field organization and media divisions in recent months. But the scale of those cuts was hitherto unclear. According to its most recent 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Comcast ended 2022 with 186,000 total employees, including 73,000 in its Cable Communications division. Those figures were down from 189,000 and 79,000 as of the end of 2021. However, its NBCUniversal division gained 3,000 employees, jumping to 77,000 from 74,000 the year prior. Charter, meanwhile, apparently took a very different approach in the face of uncertainty. The operator ended 2022 with 101,700 employees, an increase of 8,000 from 93,700 at the end of 2021.