Paramount to cut around 2,500 positions in November in pursuit of $2bn cost savings

Paramount’s new leadership will implement planned job cuts in November, eliminating between 2,500 and 3,000 positions as part of efforts to achieve approximately US$2bn in cost savings.

David Ellison

The redundancies come as the new management team, led by CEO and chairman David Ellison, pursues significant operational efficiencies. Earlier this month, Ellison suggested the company may “meaningfully exceed” the US$2bn savings target.

At the end of 2024, prior to the completion of the Paramount Global and Skydance merger, Paramount employed around 18,600 staff while Skydance had between 1,000 and 2,000 employees.

Should Paramount proceed with cutting about 2,500 roles, this would represent roughly 12.5% of the combined workforce.

President Jeff Shell confirmed earlier this month that redundancies would occur in a single, comprehensive round rather than being spread across multiple financial quarters, as had been typical under previous leadership.

“It’s going to be painful. It’s always hard, but we do not want to be a company that every quarter is laying people off,” Shell said.

While workforce reduction remains a priority for Paramount’s new ownership, the merged entity has simultaneously committed substantial resources to sports rights and talent acquisitions.

Two weeks ago, the company announced a US$7.7bn, seven-year agreement for US rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The deal positions Paramount+ as a significant competitor in the US streaming market and the company has indicated plans to explore UFC partnerships in other territories.

On the talent front, Paramount confirmed last week it had secured Matt and Ross Duffer under an overall deal that will see the Stranger Things creators depart Netflix in 2026. The four-year agreement will see the Duffer brothers create, write, direct and produce projects for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount direct-to-consumer platforms through their production company Upside Down Pictures, headed by president Hilary Leavitt.

Despite restructuring plans, Paramount executives have indicated they do not intend to sell or spin off cable assets, unlike strategies pursued by Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery. Instead, they aim to “redefine” the portfolio of brands for new viewer demographics, with George Cheeks, chairman of the TV Media division, stating he believed there was “a lot to preserve there.”

The job cuts timeline aligns with Paramount’s expected third-quarter earnings announcement, when leadership plans to present a comprehensive vision for the company’s future direction.