Shentel (Shenandoah Telecommunications Company) will reduce its workforce because of the expected sale of its wireless assets and certain liabilities to T-Mobile US, Inc. The Shentel restructuring plans have been announced to employees.
Shentel was required to sell the operations to T-Mobile because of a clause in Shentel’s original agreement with Sprint, which was acquired by T-Mobile. Shentel and T-Mobile agreed on a price in early February.
About 340 employees, or 30%, of Shentel’s workforce is expected to be impacted by the reductions, with 90% of those affected being employees who support wireless operations and who will not automatically transfer to T-Mobile.
Most of the affected employees will leave the company by the end of the year, following the closing of the pending Shentel Wireless sale and any required transition services. The closing is expected by the end of the third quarter.
Shentel expects to incur termination costs in connection with the workforce reduction, with approximately $1.7 million related to continuing operations and approximately $4.5 million related to discontinued operations. The company expects to incur most of these costs during the third quarter of 2021
“We announced to our employees today the necessary plans to begin to reduce the size of our workforce for the anticipated divestiture of our wireless assets and operations. Although this change was anticipated, its impact will cause disruption and uncertainty for the affected employees and their families,” said, Christopher E. French president and CEO, in a prepared statement about the Shentel restructuring.
“We are coordinating with T-Mobile to assist in transitioning as many of the affected employees as possible to T-Mobile following the closing of the transaction. We are proactively providing career transition services to all impacted employees, regardless of whether they are hired by T-Mobile, to help them during this time.”
