By Patience Haggin and Katherine Hamilton
Verizon Communications is cutting roughly 3,000 workers as part of a move to close hundreds of its retail stores.
The company plans to divest itself of 274 of its retail stores to franchise owners, according to a company spokesman Thursday. Verizon would still own about 1,000 retail stores after the divestment.
Management has decided Verizon needs a minimum of 1,000 corporate-owned stores for the next three years as part of its long-term strategy, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Most of Verizon's layoffs would come from the retail-store divestiture. However, the 3,000-layoff total also includes about 500 Verizon corporate employees, people familiar with the matter said.
