By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Verizon is planning to cut about 15,000 jobs as part of the company’s restructuring efforts, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The layoffs, the largest ever for the wireless carrier and impacting about 15% of its workforce, are set to take place in the next week, the person said.

Verizon shares rose about 1.7% on the news.

The cuts come after the U.S. telecommunications company named former PayPal boss Dan Schulman as its new chief executive officer in early October.

The cuts are aimed at its non-union management ranks and will affect more than 20% of that workforce, the source said. Verizon also plans to transition around 180 corporate-owned retail stores into franchised operations, the source added.

Verizon did not

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