Tensions are running high at Paramount Global following a sweeping round of layoffs that insiders have described as “merciless.” The cuts come in the wake of Paramount’s high-profile merger with Skydance Media, a deal finalized earlier this year that aimed to reshape the legacy studio for a new era of entertainment.
According to Variety, the restructuring has already cost more than a thousand employees their jobs, with another 1,000 cuts expected in the coming months — a 10% reduction of the company’s 20,000-person workforce. The layoffs, which span film, television, and news divisions, have left many staffers reeling.
One longtime CBS News employee told Variety, “I’ve lost a lot of friends. A lot of really great writers and journalists have lost their jobs… It’s devastating.” Another executive described the process bluntly as “a new way of doing business — they didn’t show a lot of respect.”
The publication also reported that women were disproportionately affected. Of the 14 television executives dismissed, 11 were women. A source close to the company denied that gender or politics played any role, insisting the decisions were based on restructuring needs.
In an internal memo obtained by CNN, Paramount CEO David Ellison told employees the reductions were necessary to “position Paramount for long-term success.” He cited redundancies and evolving priorities across departments following the merger.
When the Paramount–Skydance deal officially closed, the studio had touted the merger as a “new path forward” — blending Paramount’s storied catalog and global distribution with Skydance’s production muscle and technological infrastructure. Backed by RedBird Capital, the new entity was positioned as a leaner, more agile studio ready to compete in a shifting media landscape.
But inside the company, the mood tells a different story. “I’ve been through mergers before,” one former executive told Variety, “and there’s no other word to describe this one than merciless.”
As Paramount eyes an even larger potential merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, many employees are left wondering what the “new era” of the studio will truly look like — and who will still be around to see it.
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