Spectrum shifts gears as customers desert its services

Internet, phone, and cable TV giant Spectrum, which is operated by Charter Communications, has struggled to retain customers over the past year amid price hikes and increased competition. As the company’s customer losses mount, it is shifting gears, resulting in a concerning workforce change.

In 2025, Spectrum lost about 284,000 cable TV customers and roughly 403,000 internet customers, according to calculations based on its latest earnings report. Its revenue for the year also dipped by 0.6% year over year.

The customer losses follow the company’s recent price increases for its cable TV and internet plans. For example, in July, Spectrum raised monthly rates by $2 on a few of its older internet plans and by $5 on its Spectrum Select TV packages.

Price hikes were a risky move, since Spectrum was already losing cable TV customers amid the nationwide cord-cutting trend. This trend took off in the early 2010s and involves consumers canceling cable TV services and subscribing to streaming platforms to save money.

A survey from Pew Research Center last year even found that 83% of Americans use streaming platforms, while only 36% are subscribed to cable or satellite TV services.

Also, fixed wireless internet (or 5G home internet), which is usually more affordable than traditional wired internet, has become a major threat to Spectrum and other cable companies.

This service is offered by phone carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, and they have gained hundreds of thousands of fixed wireless internet customers in recent months.

As it tries to keep customers from fleeing, Spectrum’s parent company recently made an eyebrow-raising workforce change.

In a WARN notice filed on March 18, Charter Communications revealed its plan to close its Spectrum call center facility in Appleton, Wis., a change that took effect on March 21.

The closure resulted in 313 Spectrum employees losing their jobs, affecting positions across customer service, tech support, and management.

Related: Spectrum owner seals billion-dollar acquisition as customers flee

In a statement to Wisconsin Public Radio on March 19, the company said tasks at its Appleton call center will be moved to its other U.S. centers.

“Employees have the option to relocate and transition in their current role to one of our select technical repair locations or apply to another role with the company for which they are qualified, including our Fond du Lac call center,” read the statement.

The latest round of Spectrum job cuts comes after the company reportedly laid off 1,200 employees in October to streamline operations. The cuts affected 1% of the company’s workforce, only impacting corporate employees and those who work in back-office functions nationwide.

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The recent layoffs also come as Charter heavily invests in artificial intelligence to enhance the customer experience.

In November, it even partnered with Amazon Web Services to ​​deploy AI across its business, accelerating new features and improving its software development capabilities.

“We continue to invest in technology, including AI, to increase customer satisfaction through self-service where customers want and enhancing our employee service capabilities,” said Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey during an earnings call in January.

Additional layoffs may occur soon at the company, as Charter is close to completing its $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications, which received Federal Communications Commission approval in February. The deal just needs approval from California state regulators in order to be finalized.

The Spectrum job cuts follow the footsteps of its peers in the tech industry. Companies such as Meta, Amazon, and T-Mobile have also conducted job cuts this year amid economic pressures and their increased AI investment.

The tech industry specifically saw a spike in layoffs in February as hiring plans slowed nationwide, according to recent Challenger, Gray, & Christmas data.

• In February, U.S. employers announced 48,307 job cuts, down 55% from January’s 108,435.

• In the tech industry, 11,039 job cuts were announced in February, bringing the total to 33,330 in 2026, reflecting a 51% year-over-year increase.

• Also, 10,736 of the job cuts across all industries in February were due to store, unit, or department closings, while 10,114 stemmed from market and economic conditions, 9,146 from restructuring, and 5,636 from cost-cutting.

• Hiring plans reached 12,755 in February, down 63% from the same month in 2025.
  Source: Challenger, Gray, & Christmas

“Tech is responding to a number of pressures right now,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, in the report.

“AI is the big story, but there are also global regulatory concerns, a slowdown in digital advertising driven by tariffs and economic uncertainty, and higher costs to both employ workers and access funding, forcing companies to make difficult decisions,” he continued.

Related: T-Mobile customers set to receive a significant network upgrade

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Mar 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Technology section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.