AT&T Could Cut Workforce to 85,000 by 2030, Report Says

San Francisco — AT&T plans to keep shrinking its workforce as it replaces manual telecom operations with artificial intelligence, chief technology officer Jeremy Legg told Wired, a shift the company says will make it more competitive on cost against rivals Verizon and T-Mobile.

How many jobs has AT&T cut, and how many more are coming?

AT&T has already shed more than half its workforce over the past decade, according to Wired's reporting, and employed nearly 131,000 people as of June 2026. The company cut roughly 2,100 jobs in the first half of 2026, after shedding 8,000 employees the prior year. "We're not going to have the same headcount in five years as we do today," Legg said. A person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, described 85,000 employees by 2030 as the company's internal target if cuts continue at last year's pace. AT&T called that figure inaccurate.

Why is AT&T comparing itself to Verizon and T-Mobile?

According to public financial disclosures cited by Wired, AT&T generated less revenue per employee last year than either Verizon or T-Mobile, both of which have also cut staff in recent months. Legg said benchmarking headcount against competitors factors into the company's decisions about staffing levels.

How is artificial intelligence replacing manual telecom work?

AT&T is deploying AI across customer service, network planning and maintenance, Wired reported. The company uses AI tools to help identify sites for new cell towers and to flag maintenance issues on existing infrastructure. A generative AI system AT&T calls GeoModeler adjusts network settings in real time during events such as extreme weather. AT&T is also using AI to generate software code and manage service tickets, following a pattern common across large technology and telecom firms.

What is happening to AT&T's old landline network?

Some of AT&T's systems still rely on decades-old, paper-based processes — for example, when a customer disconnects phone service, according to Wired. The company is automating that work as it winds down legacy landline service. Starting next year, AT&T will replace physical hardware at thousands of central hubs with cloud software from DriveNets, an Israeli startup in which AT&T is an investor. The switch is meant to let technicians make network changes, such as speeding up a customer's internet connection, remotely rather than on site.

Legg said the consolidation has produced a measurable drop in electricity consumption, though he did not provide a specific figure to Wired. AT&T still carries about 15 percent of global internet traffic, Legg said.

Is the 85,000-employee target confirmed?

No. The number comes from a single person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly, and AT&T disputes its accuracy, according to Wired's reporting. CEO John Stankey, speaking this month at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference in San Francisco, said the company wants to be seen by the end of the decade as a "dramatically different" company with "fantastic" fiber internet and a "kickass wireless network" — without confirming a specific workforce figure.

The transition illustrates a broader test facing century-old infrastructure companies: whether AI adoption can offset rising costs and outside competition, including from newer entrants, while the workforce required to run the network keeps shrinking.

Read the original reporting at Wired

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