Paramount Skydance, the newly merged media giant, is set to embark on a sweeping round of layoffs that will see approximately 2,000 employees lose their jobs in the United States starting the week of October 27, 2025. This move, reported by Variety and confirmed by multiple sources including Invezz and GuruFocus, comes in the immediate aftermath of the $8 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global—a deal that has fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the entertainment industry.
The layoffs had been anticipated for months, even before the merger was finalized in August 2025. The company, now under the leadership of David Ellison, has set an ambitious target: achieving upwards of $2 billion in annualized cost savings. According to statements made by Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBCUniversal and now president of Paramount Skydance, the company intends to execute these cost cuts and layoffs as quickly as possible. "We will execute cost cuts and layoffs as quickly as possible," Shell stated during an August 7 press conference in New York, foreshadowing the difficult weeks ahead for employees.
While the initial wave of layoffs will primarily hit U.S.-based staff, additional reductions are planned internationally, and these cuts are expected to continue into 2025. As of December 31, 2024, Paramount reported approximately 18,600 full- and part-time employees worldwide, a significant drop from 24,500 just two years earlier. Skydance Media itself contributes over 500 workers across two continents, and the combined company’s global reach spans television, film, and streaming.
For those tracking the company’s financial health, the layoffs are not entirely surprising. Paramount Skydance has been navigating a challenging market environment. According to GuruFocus, the company’s revenue stands at $28.76 billion, but its three-year growth rate is a meager 0.3%. The operating margin is just 8.38%, well below the industry median of 17.07%. Even more concerning, the net margin is -0.05%, and earnings per share (EPS) is negative at -0.02, signaling ongoing profitability challenges.
The company’s balance sheet reveals a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, indicating moderate leverage. However, the Altman Z-Score—a widely used measure of financial distress—sits at 1.47, placing Paramount Skydance firmly in the distress zone and suggesting a potential risk of bankruptcy within two years if conditions do not improve. The company’s market capitalization is around $18.38 billion, and its Price-to-Sales (P/S) ratio is 0.39, below the sector median. Analysts remain cautious, assigning a recommendation score of 3.3, which translates to a hold position, and technical indicators suggest the stock is approaching oversold territory.
Despite these daunting financial headwinds, Paramount Skydance has shown no signs of cutting back on its content ambitions. In the week following the merger, the company announced a series of major deals: a $7.7 billion, seven-year exclusive rights agreement with the UFC, a partnership with Activision to produce a "Call of Duty" movie, and the acquisition of The Free Press, founded by Bari Weiss, for a reported $150 million. The company also inked a four-year exclusive agreement with the Duffer Brothers, the creative force behind Stranger Things, to produce new films, shows, and streaming content. These moves highlight Ellison’s dual strategy of aggressive cost-cutting alongside bold investments in premium content.
Ellison, who now holds 100% voting control over Paramount Skydance, is not stopping there. According to Invezz, he is exploring a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. However, the initial $20-per-share offer was rejected by Warner Bros. Discovery as too low, signaling that any such deal would likely require further negotiation and potentially even more financial maneuvering.
Leadership at the newly merged company has also undergone significant restructuring. Since the merger closed, Ellison has made a series of high-profile C-level hires, including Makan Delrahim as chief legal officer, Dane Glasgow as chief product officer, and Jay Askinasi as chief revenue officer. Cindy Holland, Dana Goldberg, and Josh Greenstein remain central to Paramount’s film and streaming operations, while George Cheeks has transitioned to Chair of TV Media. These appointments reflect Ellison’s intent to build a leadership team capable of steering the company through turbulent industry waters.
Much of the anticipated savings—upwards of $2 billion annually—are expected to come from Paramount’s traditional TV business, which has been battered by the industry-wide decline in linear TV revenue. The shift of pay-TV subscribers toward streaming services has eroded advertising and distribution revenue, a challenge that all legacy media companies have struggled to address. The layoffs, then, are not just a response to the merger but a reflection of broader, structural changes in the media landscape.
Paramount Global, now part of the larger Paramount Skydance entity, operates across three major business segments: TV media (including CBS, 15 owned CBS affiliates, Paramount, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, and VH1), filmed entertainment (anchored by Paramount Pictures), and direct-to-consumer offerings (Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+). Notably, much of the content on the company’s streaming platforms is created by the production studios within these segments, allowing for a vertically integrated approach to content creation and distribution.
But the company’s restructuring comes with significant risks. Paramount Skydance’s volatility is high, with a beta of 1.5 and a volatility score of 31.96, reflecting a company whose fortunes can swing dramatically. Institutional ownership stands at 47.02%, but minimal insider activity suggests that even those closest to the company are wary of making significant moves. The rapidly changing media landscape demands constant innovation, and the pressure to deliver fresh, compelling content has never been greater.
In July 2024, Jeff Shell revealed that the Skydance team, working alongside consulting firm Bain & Co., had identified the potential for $2 billion in annualized savings at the combined company. The upcoming layoffs represent the next phase in Paramount Skydance’s post-merger integration—a bid to streamline operations, reduce costs, and free up resources for investment in premium content that could define the company’s future.
For employees, investors, and industry watchers alike, the coming months will be a test of whether Ellison’s vision—balancing ruthless efficiency with creative ambition—can set Paramount Skydance on a path to renewed growth and stability. The stakes could hardly be higher as the company navigates the choppy waters of today’s media world.
