Though many of its peers have already begun shedding workers, Altice USA isn’t taking the layoff route – not yet at least. Instead, new CEO Dennis Mathew told employees in an email on Monday it will halt hiring for most roles.
According to Mathew, customer-facing and “select other roles” will be exempt from the freeze.
“We will continue to recruit for a number of frontline positions to ensure our customers are receiving the service and support they deserve. Certain open positions within our news and advertising groups will remain active due to the unique needs for those businesses,” he wrote. “Additionally, we will implement a process to consider very select business-critical hiring needs and those requests will be reviewed by my direct reports and me on a case-by-case basis.”
As of Monday afternoon, Altice USA’s career’s page displayed 478 job openings across all its brands, including its a4 advertising department and LightPath subsidiary.
The move is one of Mathew’s first as CEO since assuming the position from previous chief Dexter Goei at the beginning of October. During the operator’s Q3 2022 earnings call, Mathew said Altice USA has made a good directional turn with its pivot towards fiber but now needs to home in on process improvements and operational efficiencies.
The company is currently in the midst of developing its 2023 budget and investment priorities. In the email, Mathew said pausing hiring now “ensure our workforce and staffing are fully aligned with our go-forward plans.” He added Altice USA will reassess its recruiting needs early next year.
Altice’s freeze comes as a wave of layoffs washes over the telecom industry. Verizon, Comcast, Cox Communications, Zayo, Dell Technologies and Salesforce have all confirmed job cuts to Fierce. Layoffs elsewhere have also been widely reported, including at Starry, Meta, Microsoft and Twitter. Others, such as Alphabet, have decided to slow hiring instead.