Charter lays off around 1,200 employees to streamline corporate roles, source says

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Harshita Mary Varghese

(Reuters) -Cable giant Charter Communications is laying off close to 1,200 employees, or just over 1% of its 95,000-person workforce, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The job cuts will be related to corporate management positions within the company and will not impact sales or service roles, the source said, adding that the layoffs are intended to streamline operations.

Charter follows other media and cable peers that are trimming their workforce. Last month, Reuters reported exclusively that Comcast was planning to cut jobs at its biggest unit, housing broadband and pay TV, to centralize operations.

Newly merged Paramount Skydance will begin mass layoffs next week, eliminating around 2,000 U.S. jobs, according to media reports.

Charter is facing growing pressure from telecom carriers offering bundled internet and 5G mobile plans. The company lost 117,000 internet customers in the second quarter, and 60,000 in the January-March period.

The company added 500,000 mobile lines in the second quarter, compared with Visible Alpha’s expectations for a rise of 538,450 customers.

Charter is seeking to expand through the $21.9  billion acquisition of Cox Communications that would position it as the largest cable TV and broadband provider in the U.S.

The company also announced a partnership with Comcast to establish a mobile virtual network operator that will use T-Mobile’s 5G network to serve wireless business customers, with a commercial launch set for 2026.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the job cuts.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)