Sunrise plans up to 450 job cuts in major restructuring

Up to 450 Sunrise jobs are now at risk, almost 16% of the company's workforce. Switzerland's second-largest telecoms company is preparing a sweeping restructuring that could reshape its operations and bring the total number of jobs affected this year to almost 600.

Sunrise says the overhaul will bring the organisation closer to three priorities: retaining customers, improving network quality and reliability, and speeding up the launch of products and services. The company has not yet disclosed its future organisational structure or identified the divisions that will carry the largest burden.

The announcement comes after Sunrise completed a separate round of cuts involving 147 positions. Those jobs were announced at the start of 2026 and eliminated during the summer. Jany Fruytier, Sunrise's chief financial officer, told AWP in August that the earlier measures would reduce personnel costs by about 5%.

The latest plan therefore arrives as employees are still absorbing the first restructuring. Sunrise has said shop, sales and customer service staff should largely be spared, and apprentices will not be affected. It expects to provide further details after its internal review and consultations with staff representatives.

Sunrise has not been profitable since 2022, reporting a net loss in each of the following three years. The company has not attached a public savings target to the new programme, although it says the restructuring should generate significant cost reductions over the medium term.

Headcount is only one part of the plan. Sunrise also intends to review contracts with suppliers, a move that could affect the wider network of technology, maintenance and service providers supporting its Swiss operations. The company is seeking a leaner operating model while maintaining the services customers use every day.

The financial pressure reflects a difficult market for telecoms operators. Swiss customers expect broad coverage, reliable connections and rapid product development, while companies must continue funding networks and digital services. Those demands leave little room for inefficient processes or duplicated spending.

Sunrise has not said whether the new structure will rely on natural attrition, redeployment, voluntary departures or compulsory redundancies. That uncertainty will remain until the company completes its review. The planned consultation with employee representatives and Syndicom in the fourth quarter of 2026 will provide the first formal opportunity to scrutinise the proposed changes.

The company says customer-facing teams and apprentices will largely avoid the cuts. Sunrise has indicated that employees in shops, sales and customer service are expected to be largely spared, protecting the roles most visible to subscribers and those directly involved in retaining them.

The announcement leaves open the fate of back-office, technical, administrative and support functions. Sunrise has yet to say how many positions will disappear from each area, or whether work will be transferred between locations. Those details will determine how the restructuring affects different professional groups and Swiss regions.

An unnamed source cited by the financial news website Inside Paradeplatz suggested that artificial intelligence could play a role in the transformation. Sunrise has not publicly confirmed a specific AI-related job reduction target. The technology could be considered alongside supplier reviews and changes to internal processes, but the company has not published a detailed implementation plan.

Syndicom has called on Sunrise to abandon the cuts. Dominik Fitze, a spokesman for the union, told AWP that announcing a second major round within months places the workforce in a “permanent state of emergency”. The consultation process will test whether Sunrise can justify the scale of the plan and protect affected employees.