- President cites ‘fierce’ competition in message to employees
- Cable, internet provider says revenues are down, costs are up
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By Brody Ford
September 13, 2024 at 04:31 GMT+7
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Cox Communications Inc. will cut hundreds of workers as revenue in cable-TV and phone service declines.
The company will reduce its workforce by about 5%, primarily among corporate staffers who don’t interact with customers, President Mark Greatrex said in a message to employees Thursday.
“Competition is fierce in every corner of our footprint,” Greatrex said. “The continued decline in our video and home-phone services has reduced revenues this year while our costs have risen. And when we compare ourselves to others in the industry, our operating costs are higher.”
A spokesperson for Cox confirmed the cuts, saying, “We’re making the changes to better serve customers, reorganize the company to continue to remain competitive, focus on growth areas and reduce operational costs.”
Cox Communications, a provider of cable TV and internet access, has about 17,000 employees, the company said. Growing competition in the communications segment is expected to continue constraining revenue and margins, according to a May report from Fitch Ratings Inc.
Voluntary separation packages will be offered to some employees, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. The restructuring will reduce the number of higher-ranked staffers, including officers, assistant vice presidents and directors.
The company is part of closely held Cox Enterprises Inc., which includes a faster-growing automotive tech business and saw revenue of $23.1 billion in the most recent fiscal year, according to Fitch. The parent company has about 55,000 employees, according to a Cox spokesperson.
Other divisions of Cox Enterprises outside of communications or automotive announced a voluntary retirement program for which about 400 employees are eligible, a spokesperson said.
(Updates with cuts in other divisions in last paragraph. An executive’s title was corrected in an earlier version of this story.)