Verizon Communications Inc. offered voluntary severance packages to approximately 44,000 employees, or more than a quarter of the company's workforce, in September, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 3.

The job cuts are part of the U.S. carrier's plans to cut $10 billion in costs and upgrade to a 5G network. Employees eligible for the severance packages were offered three weeks' pay for each year of service up to 60 weeks.

The severance packages will give Verizon "an opportunity to find more efficiencies in the size and scope of our V Team and help expedite the building of an innovative operating model for our future," the company's CEO Hans Vestberg wrote in a memo to employees.

A spokesman for the company confirmed the scope of the offer.