Sunrise Plans Up to 450 Job Cuts in Switzerland

Up to 450 jobs are now at risk at Sunrise, Switzerland's second-largest telecommunications company, in a restructuring that could affect almost 16% of its workforce. The plan marks the operator's second substantial reduction in headcount in 2026, after it removed 147 positions earlier this year.

Sunrise says the overhaul will bring its organisation closer to three priorities: retaining customers, improving network quality and reliability, and bringing new products and services to market faster. The company has not yet published a final organisational chart or identified the departments that will absorb the largest reductions.

Employees in shops, sales and customer service are expected to be largely protected. Apprentices will not be affected, according to the company. That leaves the impact concentrated elsewhere in the organisation, although Sunrise has not specified where.

The scale of the proposal has put employment at the centre of the company's attempt to lower costs and redirect investment. If all 450 positions disappear, Sunrise could eliminate nearly 600 jobs during 2026, a figure that would reshape its Swiss workforce within a single year.

Sunrise has recorded net losses in each of the three years since 2022, according to its investor relations reports. The latest restructuring is designed to reduce operating costs over the medium term, although the company has not disclosed a savings target.

The programme will extend beyond staffing. Sunrise also plans to review supplier contracts, a move that could affect the wider network of companies providing equipment, technology and services to the telecoms operator. Management has linked the review to a broader examination of how the business operates.

The first round of cuts this year has already produced a measurable target. Chief financial officer Jany Fruytier told AWP in August that the elimination of 147 jobs would reduce personnel costs by about 5%. Sunrise has not said whether the new plan will produce a comparable reduction or how much of the projected savings will come from supplier negotiations.

Telecoms operators face heavy recurring costs as they maintain mobile networks, develop digital services and compete for customers. Sunrise's stated priorities suggest that management wants to shift resources towards functions with a direct effect on retention, reliability and product launches. The details will emerge only after the organisational review is complete.

Artificial intelligence could feature in Sunrise's transformation, according to an unnamed source cited by Swiss financial news site Inside Paradeplatz. Sunrise has not confirmed which technologies it may deploy or whether automation will directly determine the jobs under review.

The company has said that employees in retail, sales and customer service should be largely spared. Apprentices are also excluded from the planned reductions. Sunrise has provided no equivalent protection for other functions, and it has not said whether the final plan will involve redeployment, natural attrition, early retirement or compulsory redundancies.

That uncertainty will shape the consultation process. Sunrise is expected to discuss the proposal with employee representatives and Syndicom during the fourth quarter of 2026. The union has already rejected the cuts and criticised the timing of a second major reduction within months.

Dominik Fitze, a Syndicom spokesman, told AWP: "If you announce massive job cuts for the second time within a few months, you put the entire workforce in a permanent state of emergency." His comment reflects the immediate workplace concern: staff still do not know which teams, locations or roles will be affected while the company continues its review.

The restructuring reaches beyond Sunrise's offices and into the economics of Switzerland's mobile networks. In August, Sunrise announced plans to cooperate with Salt on network expansion in rural areas. The rival operators aim to share selected mobile sites, allowing them to target investment more efficiently and lower infrastructure costs.

Network quality and reliability remain central to Sunrise's stated strategy. Sharing sites can reduce duplication, but it also requires coordination between two competitors and careful decisions about coverage, capacity and maintenance. Sunrise has not said how the proposed job reductions will affect network operations or the teams responsible for the partnership.

For customers outside Switzerland's main urban centres, the practical test will be service performance. Rural communities depend on reliable mobile connections for work, travel, public services and emergency communication. The company says its new operating model will place greater emphasis on network investment, while cost controls will shape how that investment is delivered.

The arrangement with Salt illustrates the pressure facing operators as they balance nationwide coverage with limited returns. Sunrise's restructuring combines workforce reductions, supplier negotiations and infrastructure cooperation. Its success will depend on whether those measures release funds for better service without weakening the technical capacity needed to maintain it.

The final impact will depend on decisions Sunrise has yet to disclose. The company must complete its operating-model review before identifying the affected divisions, setting out the number of compulsory redundancies and explaining how it will organise the business afterwards.

The consultation with employee representatives and Syndicom is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. Sunrise says it will provide more information once the review is finished. Until then, workers and suppliers face an extended period of uncertainty, while management seeks to show that the restructuring can strengthen the business.

The proposed cuts come after 147 jobs were eliminated earlier in the year. If Sunrise proceeds with the full plan, almost 600 positions will have been affected across the two rounds. The figure represents a significant contraction for a major Swiss employer, even though retail, sales, customer service and apprenticeships are expected to remain largely protected.

For customers, the outcome will be measured through familiar indicators: network reliability, product launches and service quality. For employees, the next milestone is the consultation process. For Sunrise, the task is to reduce costs while financing the network and retaining the customers on whom its future revenue depends.