Upon close of the Merger in April 2020, we began implementing restructuring initiatives to realize cost efficiencies and reduce redundancies. The major activities associated with the Merger restructuring initiatives included contract termination costs associated with the rationalization of retail stores, distribution channels, duplicative network and backhaul services and other agreements, severance costs associated with the integration of redundant processes and functions and the decommissioning of certain small cell sites and distributed antenna systems to achieve Merger synergies in network costs.

The following table summarizes the expenses incurred in connection with our Merger restructuring initiatives:



(in millions)	Year Ended December 31, 2021		Year Ended December 31, 2022		Year Ended December 31, 2023		Incurred to Date
Contract termination costs	$	14	$	231	$	45	$	468
Severance costs	17		169		3		574
Network decommissioning	184		796		289		1,766
Total restructuring plan expenses	$	215	$	1,196	$	337	$	2,808

The expenses associated with our Merger restructuring initiatives are included in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Our Merger restructuring initiatives also included the acceleration or termination of certain of our operating and financing leases for cell sites, switch sites, retail stores, network equipment and office facilities. Incremental expenses associated with terminated leases and leases for which we have recognized accelerated lease expense were $390 million, $1.7 billion and $873 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and are included in Costs of services and Selling, general and administrative expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

The changes in the liabilities associated with our Merger restructuring initiatives, including expenses incurred and cash payments, are as follows:


(in millions)	December 31, 2022		Expenses Incurred		Cash Payments		Adjustments for Non-Cash Items (1)		December 31, 2023
Contract termination costs	$	190	$	45	$	(217)	$	—	$	18
Severance costs	—		3		(6)		3		—
Network decommissioning	280		289		(449)		(26)		94
Total	$	470	$	337	$	(672)	$	(23)	$	112

The liabilities accrued in connection with our Merger restructuring initiatives are presented in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

We expect to incur all of the remaining restructuring and integration costs associated with the Merger by the first half of 2024, with the cash expenditure for the Merger-related costs extending beyond 2024. Cash payments extending beyond 2024 primarily relate to operating and financing leases for which we have recognized accelerated lease expense. See Note 16 – Leases for more details on the expected amount and timing of our lease payments.

In August 2023, we implemented an initiative to reduce the size of our workforce by approximately 5,000 positions, just under 7% of our total employee base, primarily in corporate and back-office functions, and some technology roles. We recorded a pre-tax charge of $462 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, related to the workforce reduction, which is included in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

The changes in the liabilities associated with our workforce reduction initiative, including expenses incurred and cash payments, are as follows:


(in millions)	December 31, 2022		Expenses Incurred		Cash Payments		Other (1)		December 31, 2023
Severance costs	$	—	$	462	$	(281)	$	14	$	195

(1) Other primarily consists of previously expensed vacation accruals expected to be paid out as a component of severance.

The liabilities accrued in connection with our workforce reduction activities are presented in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Substantially all costs associated with our workforce reduction activities were recorded during the year ended December 31, 2023, with substantially all related cash outflows extending through mid-2024.