The new era at Paramount Skydance Corporation began with a painful but widely expected reckoning. The newly merged media giant, led by CEO David Ellison, initiated the first phase of significant Paramount TV layoffs on Wednesday, October 29, eliminating approximately 1,000 US-based jobs.
The move is the first part of a sweeping restructuring plan set to cut 2,000 jobs in total—roughly 10% of the company’s workforce. The cuts are the most dramatic step Ellison has taken since Skydance Media’s $8 billion merger with Paramount Global closed in August 2025.
In an internal memo sent to all staff on Wednesday, Ellison framed the decision as a “necessary” step to build a “strong, future-focused company.” The layoffs strike at the heart of the media conglomerate, with confirmed impacts across its most iconic brands, including CBS Entertainment, Paramount+, MTV, and BET, as the company seeks to find $2 billion in post-merger cost savings.
A ‘Painful’ Day One for the New Paramount
Employees across Paramount’s US operations, from its historic Hollywood studio lot to its New York headquarters, faced notifications on Wednesday. The 1,000 cuts were swift, coming just two months after the merger’s completion. Multiple reports confirm a second round of 1,000 redundancies will follow at a later date, bringing the total job losses to 2,000.
The cuts under Ellison follow several smaller rounds of layoffs implemented by the previous Paramount Global leadership in 2024, as that entity struggled with streaming losses and a declining linear television business.
This new, larger cull is a direct consequence of the merger. When Skydance acquired Paramount, the combined entity was expected to seek massive “synergies”—a corporate term for eliminating overlapping roles and streamlining operations. The $2 billion savings target, announced by executives, is now being realized.
In August, Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell, formerly of NBCUniversal, signaled the cuts would be deep but fast. “We don’t want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter,” Shell said at a press conference, as reported by Deadline. “So it’s important to us to get done what we’re doing in one bigger thing and then be done with it.”
The Numbers Behind the Restructuring
The scale of the restructuring is significant. The company is not just trimming, it is fundamentally reshaping its workforce to fit a new, leaner strategy.
- Total Workforce (Baseline): As of December 2024, the former Paramount Global employed approximately 18,600 full- and part-time staff globally, with an additional 3,500 project-based employees.
- Total Job Losses: The planned 2,000 cuts represent approximately 10.8% of the company’s 18,600-person staff (excluding project-based workers).
- Savings Target: The company is aiming to achieve $2 billion in cost savings. These job cuts are the largest single contributor to that goal announced to date.
These figures illustrate the high-stakes financial pressure on Ellison’s new leadership team to make the costly merger viable and pivot the legacy media company toward a more sustainable, streaming-focused future.
Official Responses: ‘Not Aligned With Our Evolving Priorities’
In his memo to staff, CEO David Ellison did not mince words, linking the layoffs directly to the new corporate strategy.
When we launched the new Paramount in August, we made clear that building a strong, future-focused company would require significant change – including restructuring the organization,” Ellison wrote. As part of that process, we must also reduce the size of our workforce… In some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization. In others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure.”
The cuts to the television divisions, which include brands that have defined American media for a half-century, were addressed by George Cheeks, the head of Paramount’s TV and media divisions.
In a separate memo obtained by TheWrap, Cheeks acknowledged the human toll:
“We are saying goodbye to many valued colleagues, some of whom have been part of Paramount Media Networks or CBS for decades, helping shape the culture, creativity, and legacy we all share,” Cheeks stated. “This means making tough decisions, including reducing the size of our workforce – choices that affect people who have contributed meaningfully to our success.”
Impact on People: CBS News, MTV, and Paramount+ Feel the Brunt
While the cuts were described as “company-wide,” specific details emerging on Wednesday and Thursday paint a clearer picture of where the axe is falling heaviest.
The prompt’s focus on CBS Entertainment, Paramount+, and MTV was accurate. TheWrap confirmed that executives at all three divisions, as well as at BET and in corporate communications, were among those laid off.
The most surgical and symbolic cuts came at the storied CBS News division:
- International Bureau: The network is closing its bureau in Johannesburg, South Africa, scaling back its global news-gathering footprint.
- Streaming Content: Two streaming-only companion shows, “Mornings Plus” (for “CBS Mornings”) and “Evening News Plus” (for the “CBS Evening News”), have been canceled. This move is particularly notable given the company’s stated “streaming-first” ambitions, suggesting a consolidation of news content rather than an expansion.
- Specialized Units: The CBS News race and culture unit has been disbanded, though its head, Alvin Patrick, reportedly remains with the company.
These changes at CBS News are especially sensitive as they follow other major strategic shifts under Ellison’s new umbrella. Earlier this month, the company acquired the conservative-leaning news site The Free Press for a reported $150 million and named its founder, Bari Weiss, as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News.
The Paramount TV layoffs are a textbook example of post-merger consolidation. Ellison and Skydance, backed by private equity, are moving aggressively to shed the debt and bloat of the legacy Paramount Global structure. The $2 billion savings target is ambitious and requires deep, painful cuts to redundant corporate, marketing, and distribution teams that existed in parallel across Paramount Pictures, CBS, and the cable networks (MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon).
However, the cuts to news and streaming content production signal a more profound strategic pivot. The cancellation of streaming-specific news shows, combined with the new editorial direction at CBS News, suggests Ellison is not just cutting costs but actively reshaping the company’s voice and content priorities.
Stakeholders and remaining employees are now watching for three key developments:
- Phase Two: When and where the next 1,000 job cuts will land.
- The Return-to-Office Mandate: Paramount has also announced a phased return to a five-day, in-office work week starting in January. Employees who do not comply will be offered severance packages—a “soft” layoff that could further reduce headcount.
- Q3 Earnings Call: The company’s third-quarter earnings report, scheduled for November 10, will be the first time Ellison and his new executive team face Wall Street. They will be expected to provide more detail on their long-term strategy and the full financial impact of the restructuring.
In his memo, Ellison concluded that the “steps are necessary to position Paramount for long-term success.” For the 2,000 employees exiting the company and the thousands more remaining, that future has begun with a period of profound uncertainty.
The Information is Collected from IMDb and Deadline.
