Verizon to cut 8,000 jobs

Cost-cutting at Verizon Communications Inc's wireline business failed to keep pace with falling revenues as the US’ largest wireless carrier reported a 21 percent drop in second-quarter profit and announced further job cuts.

The company said Monday it will cut more than 8,000 employee and contractor jobs before the end of the year in the wireline business, speeding up its efforts to keep costs in line, according to chief financial officer John Killian.

In recent years, Verizon has balanced layoffs in wireline with hiring in wireless, but Chief Operating Officer Denny Strigl said that would not be the case this time.

Verizon ended the quarter with 235,000 employees, up from 229,000 a year ago, despite already cutting 8,000 jobs during the year. Contractor jobs are not included in those totals.

The earnings announced narrowly beat Wall Street expectations, and Verizon said demand for cell phones and its new home TV service were holding up well in the recession.

Verizon earned $1.48 billion, or 52 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30. That's down from $1.88 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding special items, mainly for job cuts, New York-based Verizon says it earned 63 cents per share, beating by a penny the average analyst forecast as polled by Thomson Reuters.

Verizon Wireless had already revealed how many subscribers it added in the quarter, saying on Friday that net additions were 1.1 million. That was also roughly in line with analyst expectations. It ended the quarter with 87.7 million customers, ahead of AT&T's 79.6 million.

AT&T added more subscribers in the quarter: a net of 1.37 million. The iPhone continued to make AT&T a first choice for those willing to spend a premium on wireless service, particularly as the carrier and partner Apple Inc. launched a new model in June.