It has been confirmed that Paramount and Skydance employees will face widespread layoffs during the week of October 27 as part of David Ellison’s new leadership strategy. Significant layoffs were anticipated even before the Skydance Media–Paramount Global deal was finalized, as Ellison and his team aim to cut more than $2 billion in expenses.
The company had originally planned to begin layoffs by early November. This new wave of cuts is expected to remove about 2,000 jobs in the United States, with more layoffs happening in other countries as well.
At A Press Conference On August 7 In New York Was Finalized!
It was just hours after the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount merger. Jeff Shell, the former NBCUniversal CEO and now president of Paramount Skydance, told reporters that the company would move quickly with cost reductions and layoffs, and that the details would be shared by the time of the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings report in November. Like many traditional media companies, Paramount, which owns CBS, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, Pluto TV, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET, has experienced long-term declines in advertising and distribution revenue as pay-TV subscribers move toward streaming.
As of December 31, 2024, Paramount had around 18,600 full-time and part-time employees in 32 countries, according to its latest 10-K annual report filed with the SEC. Two years earlier, the company had 24,500 employees.
Paramount Carried Out More Layoffs!
Before the Skydance deal was finalized, Paramount carried out more layoffs, including cutting 3.5% of its U.S. workforce in June. Meanwhile, Skydance’s website states that the company has “more than 500” employees. Even though Paramount Skydance is preparing to cut jobs, the company has also signed several major content deals. Just one week after Skydance took control, Paramount announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion agreement for exclusive UFC rights, a partnership with Activision to produce a Call of Duty movie, and the reported $150 million acquisition of Bari Weiss’ The Free Press.
The company also recently attracted the Duffer Brothers, who are the creators of Stranger Things, away from Netflix with a new four-year exclusive deal to produce films, series, and streaming content. David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, is trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal even bigger than the Paramount merger, but WBD rejected the $20-per-share offer. The Ellison family fully controls Paramount Skydance, and the original deal was heavily funded by Larry Ellison.