In an effort to catch up to competitors, Sprint, the nation's third-largest wireless service provider, began a series of job cuts Tuesday.

The layoffs, uncovered in a Securities and Exchange Comission filing by The Kansas City Star that show Sprint intended to begin slashing Tuesday, should be completed by October 31. Sprint is currently down to 33,000 employees, down from 38,000 in December and 36,000 in March. The number makes it the smallest workforce out of the four national U.S. carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile).

"Sprint is focused on competing aggressively in the marketplace," Sprint spokeswoman Melinda Tiemeyer said in a statement. "We want our customers to pay less for a better value on a new network. As a part of this plan, we have to more closely align our cost structure with that of our competitors. ... The decision to reduce our workforce is never an easy one, but this, in conjunction with other cost-cutting measures, is necessary to help Sprint lower our costs."

The reduction in jobs isn't out of left field, however. Sprint changed gears in early August, after a failed attempt at acquiring No. 4 carrier T-Mobile, and appointed a new chief executive, Bolivian billionaire wunderkind Marcelo Claure, founder of Brightstar Corp. and Sprint board member. Since the beginning, Claure has made it clear that he intends to shed unnecessary weight and shake things up to bring Sprint out of its rut. The carrier is widely considered the most archaic of the big three thanks to its small national footprint, especially in rural areas, and lack of aggressive moves -- until now.

"We have to do everything within our power to get back to winning," Claure told Re/code in an interview one month after he took his office.

"I have been very frank with employees from Day 1," Claure said. "We are looking at everything that we do. ... Businesses we shouldn't be in, we are in the process of eliminating."

It's not all about layoffs, however. Sprint has been bringing new, fresh pricing plans to the table, much like T-Mobile did when it launched its rebirth into the "Uncarrier." Although T-Mobile is still smaller than Sprint, it has made significant gains in the market thanks to its campaign against conventional telecomm practices like contracts and smartphone upgrade limits. If Claure's early moves are to be interpreted, it can be taken that the new Sprint CEO wishes to infuse his own brand with a dose of maverickism, whatever the cost.

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