Dish CEO Erik Carlson has also officially exited the company
Dish Network will lay off more than 500 employees in Colorado by the end of the week, telling Forbes the decision was the result of “changing business demands on some teams.”
The news comes shortly after the company’s stock plummeted to a 25-year low following weak Q3 earnings. “We’re a little ahead of our skis,” Chairman Charlie Ergen said during last week’s earnings call, “but we’re failing fast and we’re learning. I think strategically…we’re on the right side. Any criticism on the marketing side is well received here…We know the messaging has to be fine-tuned.”
The Colorado job cuts are not the first of this year; in August, Dish Network axed an undisclosed number of employees within its Boost Mobile and Boost Infinite divisions. According to The Denver Post, Dish had roughly 6,000 employees in Colorado as of August, with about 2,000 of those in the wireless field.
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Dish Network’s merger with EchoStar remains on track, and so the exit of Dish CEO Erik Carlson, which has been tied to the closing of the deal, has been made official, making way for Hamid Akhavan to step into the top role. “There is tremendous opportunity at Dish, and even more so once it’s combined with EchoStar,” commented Akhavan.
In other recent news, Dish Network announced plans to sell spectrum and approximately 120,000 Boost Mobile prepaid customers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America. The combined asset purchase will amount to $256 million. The deal will provide Dish with “additional capital to focus on our wireless business in the United States,” stated Tom Cullen, executive vice president of Corporate Development at Dish Network in a press statement.