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Major job cuts have been expected even before the Skydance Media-Paramount Global deal closed, as part of Ellison and his team’s goal of slashing upwards of $2 billion in costs. Previously, the company had been targeting layoffs by early November. The new round of cuts is expected to eliminate around 2,000 jobs in the U.S., with additional layoffs internationally.

At an Aug. 7 press conference in New York, just hours after the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount merger officially closed, Jeff Shell, the ex-CEO of NBCUniversal who is now president of Paramount Skydance, told reporters that the company would make cost cuts and layoffs as swiftly as possible and be disclosed by the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings report to investors in November. On Friday, Paramount Skydance announced it will report Q3 financial results on Nov. 10 after the market closes.

Like other traditional media companies, Paramount — parent of CBS, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET — has seen longer-term downturns in traditional advertising and distribution revenue as pay-TV subscribers shift toward streaming.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, according to Paramount’s most recent 10-K annual filing with the SEC, the company had about 18,600 full- and part-time employees in 32 countries worldwide. (Two years earlier, Paramount’s headcount was 24,500.) Prior to the closing of the Skydance deal, Paramount made additional layoffs, including a 3.5% reduction of its domestic staff in June. Meanwhile, Skydance’s website says it has “more than 500” employees.

Even as Paramount Skydance is gearing up to slash jobs, it has inked new deals investing more heavily in content. A week after Skydance took over, Paramount announced a $7.7 billion seven-year deal for exclusive UFC rights, a deal with Activision to make a movie based on “Call of Duty,” and the acquisition of Bari Weiss’ The Free Press for a reported $150 million. The company also recently lured the Duffer Brothers, creators of “Stranger Things,” over from Netflix with a new four-year exclusive pact to make movies, shows and streaming programming.

Meanwhile, Ellison — chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance — is angling to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in what would be a much larger M&A action than the takeover of Paramount Global. WBD reportedly rejected Paramount’s $20-per-share offer as too low. The Ellison family has 100% voting control over Paramount Skydance; the Paramount-Skydance deal was largely bankrolled by Oracle founder Larry Ellison (David’s father).

Ellison has made a series of C-level hires since the deal closed, including Makan Delrahim, who advised Skydance on its acquisition of Paramount Global, as chief legal officer; former Meta exec Dane Glasgow as chief product officer; and Roku’s Jay Askinasi as chief revenue officer. Other appointments include Cindy Holland, Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who play key roles at Paramount’s streaming and film divisions. George Cheeks, who oversaw CBS before the deal, has remained at the company with the new title of “Chair of TV Media.”

In a July 2024 presentation to investors after the Skydance deal with Paramount and Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. was announced, Shell said the Skydance team, working with consulting firm Bain & Co., had identified at least $2 billion in potential annualized cost savings at the combined company. At the time, Shell indicated much of those cost cuts will come from its linear TV business.

Paramount’s plans to commence layoffs the week of Oct. 27 were reported previously by Deadline.