Laid off from Charter Communications.
Charter, the company behind Spectrum, cut about 1,200 corporate jobs in October 2025, then closed call centers in Appleton and Portland and moved its Missouri network operations to an outside vendor. It finished buying Cox in August 2026 and says the parent name changes to Cox within a year. No severance formula is on record.
At a glance
What's known about Charter Communications severance and layoffs
- About 1,200 roles, just over 1% · October 2025 reduction
- 313 jobs, Appleton call center, Wisconsin · Largest 2026 filing
- 107 roles, work outsourced to Capgemini · Missouri network operations
- $34.5 billion, closed August 2026 · Cox acquisition
- About 91,900, down 2,600 in a year · Workforce at the end of 2025
- None on record · Published severance formula
Recent Charter Communications layoffs
Charter finished buying Cox in August 2026, and the Missouri operations unit closes in September
Charter completed its Cox transaction and its acquisition of Liberty Broadband in August 2026. The newest cut in our tracker is the July 2026 filing covering 107 jobs at the Town and Country, Missouri operations center, where the network operations unit was set to shut down on September 8 with the work outsourced to Capgemini.
Previous rounds
Charter Communications layoff history
Charter's cuts have a shape, and it runs through customer service. When the company told Wisconsin in March 2026 that it had decided to close its Appleton facility for good, the notice put 313 people out starting May 21, and the job list attached to it was almost all phone work, 119 tech support reps in one category, 66 video repair reps, 63 more tech support reps. Charter moved the Appleton work to other centers in the United States. It's the same shape as the 2024 consolidation, when Charter confirmed more than 1,000 layoffs as call centers in Ontario, California, Rochester, Minnesota, Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio closed, after it had already shuttered Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Syracuse.
Our tracker holds 32 all-time Charter filings, 7 filings covering 1,003 jobs since the start of 2025 across six states, and 3 filings covering 482 jobs in 2026, with Appleton the largest of them. What the tracker doesn't hold is the round that hit corporate. In October 2025 Charter cut about 1,200 people, just above 1% of its workforce, concentrated in corporate and back office functions and management layers, and an industry source said sales and service roles came through untouched. The Wall Street Journal, first to report it, put the reductions at the Stamford, Connecticut headquarters and elsewhere in the country, and Charter declined to comment. None of that round shows up in our tracker, whose whole window since the start of 2025 holds fewer jobs than the round did.
The Cox deal closed in August 2026, and Charter said it had completed the transaction along with its acquisition of Liberty Broadband. Charter committed that over the following 18 months Spectrum would apply its sales and service workforce model to Cox markets and fully return Cox's customer service function to the United States, with a starting wage of at least $20 an hour, and onshoring Cox's call centers was part of what it offered for federal approval of the $34.5 billion purchase. On the call marking the close, CEO Chris Winfrey said layoffs would mean a reduction of the same type of titles and overhead, de minimis to the overall company and not reaching the front line, while more than 1,000 new sales positions came into neighborhood markets. Charter has made a jobs promise during a merger review before. In 2017, seeking approval for Time Warner Cable and Bright House, it pledged 20,000 new jobs and the return of its overseas call centers.
Severance at Charter gets described, not published. For the 2024 closures the company said employees left without a role once a center closed would be entitled to comprehensive severance benefits, and it used the same phrase for Appleton, where anyone without a new position by May 21 was eligible. Neither statement carries a number, a formula, or a length. The one concrete term on record came out of Portland, Maine, in December 2025, where a spokesperson said employees who didn't relocate would get regular pay for 90 days and then severance and other benefits. On the money side, Charter's quarterly filing for the period ended June 30, 2026 reports special charges of $43 million for the quarter, a line the company says primarily holds severance costs and litigation settlements, so even the filed number covers more than severance.
Charter ended 2025 with about 91,900 full-time equivalent employees, roughly 2,600 fewer than a year earlier. If you were cut here, a few things in the record are worth checking against your paperwork. The Appleton notice states plainly that Charter recognizes no bumping rights, so seniority alone won't move you into another person's job, and relocation offers have come attached to named sites, Fond du Lac for Appleton and select customer service locations for Portland. If your work went to a vendor rather than away, the terms change again. In Missouri the network operations work moved to Capgemini, and the affected workers were offered a comparable role with that firm at the same location for at least eight months, an offer from the vendor rather than from Charter. Your own agreement holds whatever any of this means for you, and every Charter filing we hold sits in our WARN tracker.
Reporting on previous Charter Communications layoff rounds
July 2026 · 107 roles as the Town and Country, Missouri network operations unit wound down toward a September 8 shutdown, 88 engineers and 19 managers, visible in our tracker
Workers were offered a comparable role with Capgemini, the vendor taking the work, at the same location for at least eight months.
May 2026 · 62 roles at 3347 Platt Springs Road in West Columbia, South Carolina, recorded by the state as a permanent closure with notice given March 5
March 2026 · 313 roles as Charter closed its Appleton, Wisconsin call center for good, separations starting May 21, mostly customer service and tech support titles
December 2025 · 176 roles at the Portland, Maine call center, with the work moving to other centers around the country
Employees who didn't relocate received regular pay for 90 days, then severance and other benefits.
October 2025 · About 1,200 employees, just above 1% of the workforce, in corporate and back office functions and management layers, reported at the Stamford, Connecticut headquarters and elsewhere
June 2024 · More than 1,000 call center workers as Ontario, California, Rochester, Minnesota, Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio closed, after Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Syracuse earlier that year
How Charter Communications's layoffs compare to other companies
Cable has been trimming in pairs. Light Reading reported Charter's October 2025 round arriving alongside cuts at Comcast, which was shedding hundreds of jobs after eliminating its divisional structure to centralize operations. Charter's round aimed at corporate layers, not the sales and service jobs.
What to do after being laid off from Charter Communications
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Charter Communications's biggest hubs: Connecticut, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Charter Communications's hub states run: Connecticut, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Charter Communications layoff and severance questions
Is Spectrum laying off employees in 2026?
Yes. Our tracker holds 3 filings covering 482 jobs in 2026, led by the Appleton, Wisconsin call center closing at 313 jobs in March. South Carolina recorded a 62-job permanent closure at West Columbia in May, and a July filing covered 107 jobs at the Town and Country, Missouri operations center, where the work moved to an outside vendor.
Will the Charter and Cox merger cause more layoffs?
The deal closed in August 2026. Charter's CEO said there'd be a reduction of the same type of titles and overhead, called it de minimis to the overall company, and said it wouldn't reach the front line. A California regulator's proposed decision noted concerns about potential layoffs and would have the company report on its in-state workforce annually for four years. New filings would show up in our WARN tracker as states process them.
What severance does Charter Communications pay?
No severance formula is on record for any Charter round we track. The company has described severance at closing centers as comprehensive benefits for employees who don't have a new position, and in Portland, Maine it said workers who didn't relocate would get regular pay for 90 days and then severance. Those are eligibility statements rather than amounts. Your own agreement holds the numbers that matter, and our severance negotiation article covers the checks worth making before you sign.
What happened to the Spectrum call center in Appleton, Wisconsin?
Charter told the state on March 18, 2026 that it had decided to close the Appleton facility on Destination Drive for good, with 313 people separating from May 21. Spectrum said employees could relocate and keep their role at another location such as the Fond du Lac call center, and that anyone without a new position by May 21 would be eligible for comprehensive severance benefits. The work moved to other centers in the United States.
Can Charter employees transfer instead of being laid off?
Charter offered transfers at the closings we have reporting for, though it depends on an open role somewhere else. For the 2024 closures the company said employees could transfer with relocation benefits to other Spectrum customer service centers, and it made similar offers at Appleton and Portland. No terms are on record for the West Columbia, South Carolina closure. The Appleton notice also states Charter recognizes no bumping rights, so seniority alone won't place you in another person's job.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Charter Communications?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Charter Communications's biggest U.S. hubs are Connecticut, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Charter Communications?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Charter Communications?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Charter Communications?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.