Paramount Skydance, the newly merged entertainment powerhouse, is set to embark on a sweeping round of layoffs beginning the week of October 27, 2025, eliminating approximately 2,000 U.S. jobs as part of a dramatic $2 billion cost-cutting initiative. The move follows the $8.4 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global, finalized just two months ago in August, and marks the first major restructuring under the leadership of CEO David Ellison. According to reports from Variety and Reuters, additional international job cuts are anticipated, with the company planning to reveal the full extent of the reductions in its third-quarter earnings report on November 10, 2025.
As of December 31, 2024, Paramount counted nearly 18,600 full- and part-time employees, plus 3,500 project-based staff, spread across 32 countries. The looming layoffs, which will impact more than 10% of the company’s U.S. workforce, reflect not just the scale of the new entity but also the industry’s broader reckoning with shifting consumer habits and the ongoing decline of traditional TV advertising and distribution revenue. Paramount—home to CBS, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, Pluto TV, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and BET—has faced mounting pressure as cord-cutting accelerates and streaming competition intensifies, forcing legacy media companies to rethink their business models.
Initially, the company had planned to begin layoffs in early November, but the timeline was accelerated, as confirmed by multiple sources. Jeff Shell, the former NBCUniversal CEO who now serves as president of Paramount Skydance, told reporters at an August 7 press conference—just hours after the merger closed—that cost cuts and layoffs would be implemented “as swiftly as possible” and disclosed by the third-quarter earnings release to investors. On October 18, Paramount Skydance announced it would report Q3 financial results on November 10, after the market closes.
The scale and speed of the cuts are striking, even in an industry accustomed to frequent restructuring. According to Variety, the company had previously targeted a reduction of between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs by early November. The latest move, which accelerates that plan, is part of CEO David Ellison’s vision to streamline operations and unlock at least $2 billion in annualized cost savings—a figure identified in collaboration with consulting firm Bain & Co. during a July 2024 investor presentation.
Ellison’s arrival has brought a flurry of executive changes and strategic deals. Since the merger, he’s filled several key C-level positions: Makan Delrahim, who advised Skydance on the Paramount acquisition, joined as chief legal officer; ex-Meta executive Dane Glasgow was tapped as chief product officer; and Roku’s Jay Askinasi became chief revenue officer. The streaming and film divisions have seen the appointments of Cindy Holland, Dana Goldberg, and Josh Greenstein, while George Cheeks, who previously oversaw CBS, remains with the company as Chair of TV Media.
Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance hasn’t slowed its content ambitions. Just a week after the merger, the company inked a $7.7 billion, seven-year exclusive deal for UFC rights, announced a partnership with Activision to produce a Call of Duty movie, and acquired Bari Weiss’ The Free Press for a reported $150 million. The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, were also lured away from Netflix with a new four-year exclusive pact to develop movies, shows, and streaming content for the company. These aggressive moves underscore Ellison’s belief in the long-term value of premium content, even as the company trims its workforce and retools its legacy businesses.
Yet, the layoffs cast a long shadow. For thousands of employees, the news is a bitter pill—especially after years of uncertainty and previous rounds of cuts. Paramount’s headcount has already dropped from 24,500 two years ago to its current level, with a 3.5% reduction of domestic staff occurring as recently as June. The latest layoffs will affect workers across the U.S., with international reductions to follow, although specifics remain under wraps until the November earnings report.
David Ellison has been candid about his ambitions for further consolidation in the media industry. At the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on October 10, he remarked, “There’s a lot of options out there in terms of what actually might be actionable in the near future. We would approach that through the lens of wanting to make more, not less.” He also acknowledged that other potential acquisitions—such as a rumored bid for Warner Bros. Discovery—would be “very large-scale players that would in effect, could potentially create monopolies.” According to Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly rejected Paramount’s $20-per-share offer as too low, but Ellison’s interest in further deals remains undiminished.
Ellison’s leadership has also been marked by a willingness to take public stances on contentious issues. Following the Gaza war, the company refused to participate in a proposed Hollywood boycott of the Israeli film industry. As reported by Bloomberg, Ellison said, “We made a statement that discriminating based on where somebody is from is wrong.” This principled position has drawn both praise and criticism, reflecting the complexity of navigating global cultural and political currents in today’s entertainment landscape.
The new management has not shied away from controversy on other fronts, either. Under Paramount’s former leadership, the company faced accusations of political bias from the Trump administration, culminating in a $16 million settlement in July after then-President Donald Trump alleged that CBS News had edited an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to her advantage ahead of the 2024 election. While the current layoffs are unrelated to that episode, the company’s recent history underscores the turbulence buffeting traditional media giants as they adapt to new realities.
For now, all eyes are on the coming weeks as the layoffs begin to take effect. Employees across the company’s sprawling operations—spanning film, television, streaming, and digital platforms—are bracing for impact, while investors and industry watchers await further details in the November earnings report. The outcome of this restructuring will not only shape the future of Paramount Skydance but could also signal broader trends for media consolidation, cost discipline, and creative ambition in Hollywood’s next chapter.
As Paramount Skydance embarks on its most significant transformation in decades, the decisions made now will reverberate across the entertainment industry—and the livelihoods of thousands who have helped build its storied brands. The stakes, for both the company and its people, could hardly be higher.
