Paramount to Lay Off 15% of Its U.S. Workforce

Paramount Global plans to lay off 15 percent of its U.S. workforce by the end of the year as part of its previously-announced $500 million in annual cost savings ahead of the company merging with Skydance.

And Now Paramount Has Lowered the Value of Its Cable Channels by $6 Billion

Paramount’s Office of the CEO — George Cheeks, Brian Robbins, and Chris McCarthy — revealed the layoffs on Thursday as part of the company’s Q2 earnings report, which saw Paramount reassess the value of its cable networks (down) by $6 billion . Paramount+ even lost subscribers in the quarter, though the streaming division on the whole, including Pluto TV, did manage to turn a profit for the first time.

The layoffs will come to what the CEOs deem as “redundant” functions within marketing, as well as administrative divisions of the company including finance, legal, technology, and other support roles, McCarthy said.

Paramount’s last round of layoffs took place in February when CEO Bob Bakish was still in charge and about 800 staffers were let go. Bakish himself was shown the door two months later. As of the end of December 2023, Paramount Global had 21,900 employees , which itself was 11 percent down from the prior year. In other words, layoffs at Paramount are nothing new.

That $43 Billion Paramount Bid Looks Like a Big Hoax

Paramount is in the midst of the 45-day “go-shop” period during which other bidders can place a competing offer for Paramount. On July 7, Skydance laid out its plan to buy Paramount’s holding company National Amusements and then merge the two media companies. So far, no formal competing bids have emerged (not Barry Diller, not Sony, and not even this one ), though there is still time. Paramount expects the Skydance deal to close early next year.

Skydance has identified $2 billion in cost efficiencies for itself and Paramount, inclusive of the Office of the CEO’s $500-million plan. The other $1.5 billion in cuts “go beyond headcount,” Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra said on Thursday.

Paramount+ now has 68 million subscribers, with management still predicting that Paramount+ will reach profitability by 2025, with the aim of having it profitable for the whole year. Part of that progress will be realized in Q4 after Paramount+ again raises prices, and the Office of the CEO is hunting for a potential streaming partner with whom to either bundle or form a joint venture, in addition to other licensing opportunities.