T-Mobile, one of the top three phone carriers in the U.S., is reportedly following in the footsteps of one of its main competitors as it rapidly loses loyal customers.
In September, T-Mobile made it loud and clear that it is heading in a new direction when it named Srini Gopalan as its new CEO, officially replacing Mike Sievert, who had held the position for over five years, on Nov. 1.
The change came after T-Mobile revealed in its latest earnings report that during the third quarter of this year, its postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who canceled their phone service) climbed by three basis points year over year.
The increased customer losses follow the phone carrier’s recent price increases, discounts removals and phone plan changes. As more Americans battle higher costs of living nationwide, many are exploring cheaper phone plan options with nontraditional carriers, according to a recent survey from Oxio.
T-Mobile is losing more customers to its competitors.Shuttershock/Helen89
Approximately 90% of consumers would consider alternatives to traditional carriers.
Also, 85% consider cost to be a primary factor in mobile provider selection.
Additionally, 46% of consumersrank a lower-priced plan as their main reason for switching providers, while 33% prioritize better network coverage. Source: Oxio
“The research shows that many consumers are looking for greater plan clarity and value – they want services that match what they actually use,” said Oxio CcxEO Nicolas Girard in a statement. “We’re seeing a strong interest in personalization, transparency and more control over mobile services.”
Gopalan has previously announced that T-Mobile is undergoing a “digital transformation” to tackle customer pain points.
“The amount of friction and frustration we cause customers today because of our processes and the state of evolution in this industry is phenomenal,” said Gopalan during an earnings call in October. “We have a huge opportunity to change that with our digital transformation.”
One of the significant changes reportedly part of T-Mobile’s digital transformation is making customers solely dependent on its T-Life app to handle upgrades, new lines, account activations, and other tasks by January 2026.
As this new transformation sets in, some T-Mobile employees recently took to social media platform Reddit to reveal that they were suddenly laid off from the company.
In a Dec. 9 Reddit post, a Reddit user sounded the alarm about being notified of job cuts affecting T-Mobile employees who were account executives and sales managers at the company.
“I’ve received numerous text messages this morning from my friends who are still employed at T-Mobile,” wrote the Redditor in the post. “Sales teams are being significantly reduced nationwide today. Mostly account executives and sales managers are the ones on the chopping blocks. There are also rumors that T-Mobile will introduce ‘Consumer Account Executives’ in retail stores (possibly Experience Stores?) for businesses with fewer than 25 employees. Businesses with more employees will still have a (regular) account executive.”
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In the comment section under the post, several Reddit users who claimed to be T-Mobile employees confirmed that the company had laid them off.
“I’m a Solutions Engineer. Just got off a call with my manager about 10 minutes ago. I got laid off. Still trying to process,” wrote one laid-off T-Mobile employee.
“AE (account executive) here and was also let go, unfortunately. Sending positivity to all who are impacted by all these company layoffs,” wrote another.
One Reddit user even claimed that their interview for a position at T-Mobile was canceled due to a “hiring freeze.”
“I was supposed to start a VR position this past Monday but I got a call saying that they’re doing a ‘hiring freeze’. They told me it’ll be pushed to January. However, with all the chatter I am skeptical,” wrote the redditor.
The move from T-Mobile follows Verizon’s decision to lay off over 13,000 employees in November, citing the need to “simplify” operations after losing 7,000 postpaid phone customers during the third quarter of 2025.
“It’s important that we direct our energy and resources to set Verizon on a path to success,” wrote Verizon CEO Dan Schulman in a memo to employees last month. “The actions we’re taking are designed to make us faster and more focused, positioning our company to deliver for our customers while continuing to capture new growth opportunities.”
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Layoffs in the tech industry have been on the rise this year as companies nationwide cut costs amid economic uncertainty. So far this year, 257 tech companies have conducted layoffs, resulting in over 122,000 tech employees losing their jobs, according to recent data from Layoffs.fyi.
In November alone, U.S. job cuts across all industries skyrocketed, causing layoffs for 2025 to surpass 1.1 million, according to recent data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The telecommunications industry conducted the most layoffs compared to other sectors.
U.S. employers announced 71,321 job cuts in November, up 24% from the 57,727 announced during the same month in 2024.
November’s total job cuts are the highest for the month since 2022, when 76,835 job cuts were announced.
The telecommunications industry had the most job cuts in November than any other industry, announcing 15,139, primarily due to Verizon. This is the highest monthly total since April 2020, when 16,552 layoffs were announced in the sector.
So far this year, the telecommunications industry has announced 38,035 layoffs, a 268% increase from the 10,331 announced during the same period last year. Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas
“Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in the report. “That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008.”
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