T-Mobile US laid off more than 4,500 employees in the first half of the year.

The detail was revealed by parent firm Deutsche Telekom (DT) in a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which revealed a reduction of 4,671 positions at its U.S. affiliate attributed to "the impact of the 2025-2026 workforce transformation."

That transformation began in the last quarter of 2025, with DT implementing what it described as "a restructuring initiative to streamline operations by centralizing leaders and teams, reducing organizational layers, and eliminating duplicative roles." The drive could have feasibly reduced overlap with the headcount subsumed through T-Mobile US' acquisitions last year of rural wireless operator UScellular, and fiber providers U.S. Internet (USI), Lumos, and Metronet.

T-Mobile US' headcount with those deals stood at 70,036 employees at the end of 2025, dropping 6.7% to 65,365 by mid-2026. In its most recent report tracking the telecom workforce, MTN Consulting noted headcount growth usually comes from acquisition or consolidation, short-term network rollout needs, and expansion into new market areas as opposed to organic causes.

"The telco workforce has been shrinking for years due mainly to automation, not AI ... [alongside] layoffs, retirement, and attrition," Matt Walker, founder and chief analyst at MTN Consulting, wrote.

Walker added the employee profile is also changing, with telecom firms increasingly valuing skills in software, cloud, AI, and quantum computing as they invest more in AI compute and data centers. Indeed, MTN described AI as integral to DT’s drive to save nearly $1 billion in group costs by 2027. DT as part of that transformation is using AI to optimize fiber rollouts, remotely manage 75% of its routers, and support mobile radio access network (RAN) monitoring.

T-Mobile US isn't alone with its workforce reductions, as U.S. players such as Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen have also made notable cuts this year.

Exploring past DT financials, MTN claimed there is no direct correlation between workforce cuts and margin surge.

"Savings on labor are often offset by higher costs elsewhere, especially depreciation and amortization," Walker explained. "A telco that cuts staff by 20% while maintaining heavy capex should not expect a consistent EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) benefit. Some operators, including ... Deutsche Telekom, did improve EBIT while reducing headcount, but those gains also reflected asset restructuring or revenue stabilization. The cuts alone were not the cause."

T-Mobile US posted $19 billion in service revenues for the second quarter of this year, which was up 9% year-on-year (YoY). Its operating income was $5.49 billion, an increase of 5.3% YoY.

DT saw net revenue rise 4.4% YoY to nearly $35 billion for the quarter, with EBIT rising by 3.3% YoY to around $7.6 billion.