For hundreds of employees at Paramount Skydance, led by CEO David Ellison, taking a voluntary buyout package evidently was preferable to coming back to the office full-time — or getting involuntarily terminated.
The company, formed by Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global, told employees in early September that all staffers would be expected to work in the office five days a week starting Jan. 5, 2026. Those who didn’t want to comply with that directive would be able to seek a buyout starting Sept. 15.
In Phase 1 of the return-to-office program, employees in Paramount Skydance’s L.A. and New York offices (at the VP level and below) were offered the option of a voluntary severance package if they are “unable or unwilling to return to the office full time,” Ellison said in a letter to shareholders about the company’s third-quarter 2025 financial results. Approximately 600 employees “chose this option,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Ellison and his chief lieutenant, president Jeff Shell, had signaled that big layoffs were coming down the pike following the Skydance-Paramount Aug. 7 deal close. Those who took the voluntary buyouts may have been looking to exit the company that way instead of getting pink-slipped.
At the end of October, Paramount Skydance implemented a significant workforce reduction, in which about 1,000 employees were laid off. An additional 1,000 layoffs are expected to follow; in total, the layoffs will reduce about 10% of the company’s staff. “These were difficult but necessary decisions, and we remain deeply grateful for the meaningful contributions of those impacted,” Ellison wrote in the Q3 letter.
About one-fourth of Paramount’s senior VPs and higher were terminated as part of the layoffs, “enabling us to streamline decision-making and reduce the friction that can prevent great ideas from advancing,” according to Ellison’s letter. “By optimizing our leadership layers and overall talent base, we are now better positioned to align resources with our strategic priorities and invest boldly in areas with the greatest long-term potential.”
In addition, in announcing Q3 earnings, Paramount said it had divested Televisión Federal in Argentina and is in the process of divesting Chilevision in Chile, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026. The divestitures will reduce the company’s total workforce by about 1,600 additional employees.
Paramount also increased its expected post-merger cost-savings target from $2 billion to at least $3 billion, and said approximately two-thirds of the cost reductions were attributed to “non-labor” costs.
Paramount announced price increases for Paramount+ streaming plans, to go into effect Jan. 15, 2026. The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential plan will increase by $1 to $8.99 per month, and the no-ads Paramount+ Premium plan will rise by $1 to $13.99 per month.
Paramount Skydance’s brands and assets include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television Studios, the CBS Television Network, CBS Studios, CBS News, CBS Sports, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Showtime, and Skydance’s Animation, Film, Television, Interactive/Games, and Sports divisions.
