T-Mobile is planning to shrink its offline presence. In a press release last Friday, the company’s President of Consumer Group Jon Freier said that the way we’ve known brick-and-mortar retail is “dead” in the new, digital-first world. The self-proclaimed Un-carrier intends to reshape its retail network in line with this constant change in the future. It may close many offline stores in the coming months. The wireless giant has already started laying off employees in anticipation of this strategic restructuring.
According to the T-Mobile executive, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has changed the way people shop. With lockdowns and travel restrictions in place, everyone turned to online shopping. Unsurprisingly, e-commerce expenditure grew a massive 55 percent “in the last two years”. American consumers reportedly spent a staggering $1.7 trillion on online shopping during this period. Of course, people thronged physical stores once those restrictions were lifted. Thousands of new physical retail stores have opened in the US since the pandemic.
However, things are no longer the same. “A one-size-fits-all approach to retail is long gone,” Jon said. As such, T-Mobile is “reimagining” its retail network to give customers more flexibility and better experiences. This will involve narrowing its offline presence with four distinct brick-and-mortar store formats — Signature stores, Experience stores, Neighborhood stores, and Express stores. Each of these stores will serve the different needs of customers. The company will also offer Mobile stores and small kiosks within big retail chains such as Costco, Walmart, and Best Buy.
T-Mobile is laying off employees ahead of this restructuring
The T-Mobile executive is careful to avoid mentioning anything about closing retail stores. But multiple sources have confirmed that the company has already begun preparations for that. It has informed workers in many retail locations that their workplaces will be shut down soon. The wireless biggie has also eliminated many positions that it no longer sees the need for, including market directors, territory managers, and regional indirect sales managers. This layoff may have affected more than 100 T-Mobile employees, industry sources told The Desk.
This isn’t the first time T-Mobile has fired employees following the $26 billion acquisition of Sprint back in 2020. It reportedly laid off hundreds of engineers in September last year. Another such mass layoff came almost immediately after the merger was completed around three years back. T-Mobile promised to create more than 11,000 new jobs by 2024 as part of this mega-merger of two wireless biggies. But that doesn’t seem to be happening. Many more T-Mobile employees may end up losing their jobs once it completes its planned retail restructuring.