Economy

Comcast is cutting 634 jobs at its Philadelphia headquarters as it bets on AI

State WARN filings show more cuts in New Jersey and Washington, with Philadelphia layoffs starting Dec. 31.

Stock photo. Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash

Comcast will lay off 634 workers at its Center City Philadelphia headquarters, according to a WARN notice the company filed with Pennsylvania's Department of Labor & Industry. The state's listing shows the layoffs at the company's towers at 1800 Arch St. and 1701 JFK Blvd. beginning Dec. 31, 2026, and running through Dec. 31, 2027.

The cuts reach beyond Pennsylvania. Comcast also filed notices covering 119 positions in New Jersey and 159 in Washington state, the Philadelphia Inquirer and PhillyVoice reported. That is 912 jobs across the three states, and Comcast has not said how many people it is cutting company-wide.

Who is losing work

The Inquirer reported that the Philadelphia layoffs hit engineers, product managers, executive assistants, social media analysts, business analysts, IT leaders and construction specialists who build and maintain Comcast's internet, video and phone network. Comcast employs about 15,000 people in the Philadelphia area, according to the paper, making it one of the city's largest employers.

At the same time, Comcast plans to add more than 1,100 positions across its U.S. campuses, including about 500 in Philadelphia, both outlets reported. PhillyVoice reported the company says it will try to place affected workers in open or new roles, that workers who don't land one will get severance, and that none of the affected employees belong to a union.

The AI bet behind the cuts

On its Oct. 22 earnings call, Comcast executives said they plan to use AI agents to deal with customers, the Inquirer reported. Technical.ly reported the company wants to expand AI in customer service and quoted Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong on the call: "We're simplifying our organizational structure to move faster, improve execution and operate more efficiently." In September, Armstrong had told a Goldman Sachs conference that Comcast had begun "the largest cost transformation in the company's history," according to the Inquirer.

Comcast told investors to expect a restructuring charge of more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter, TV Tech reported. Reuters, citing Bloomberg News, reported on Oct. 21 that the cuts would center on Comcast's cable TV, broadband and wireless businesses. Technical.ly reported Comcast lost 144,000 residential broadband customers in the third quarter. The company is also preparing to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky in 2027.

In the statement filed with its Pennsylvania notice, Comcast said it "is fundamentally redesigning our organization to build a more agile company and better serve our customers," PhillyVoice reported. Spokesperson John Demming said the company is "deeply grateful" to the colleagues whose roles are affected.

What the law requires

The federal WARN Act bars large employers from ordering a mass layoff or plant closing until 60 days after they give written notice to affected workers (or their union), the state, and the top local elected official, under 29 U.S.C. § 2102. An employer that skips the notice owes each affected worker back pay and benefits for each day of the violation, up to 60 days.

New Jersey's law goes further. When it applies, the state's WARN statute requires 90 days' notice and mandatory severance of one week's pay for each full year of service, plus four more weeks if the employer gives short notice.

Many Comcast workers will be offered severance in exchange for signing away their right to sue. Workers 40 and older get extra protection under federal law: in a group layoff, the company must give them at least 45 days to consider the agreement and 7 days to revoke it after signing, and must advise them in writing to see a lawyer.