Nov. 11 (UPI) — Paramount saw roughly 600 employees opt to leave the company instead of complying with its directive to return to the office five days a week, the media conglomerate disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing.
The company stated in the filing that it gave employees in its Los Angeles and New York offices the choice of taking a severance package if they were unwilling to give up working from home. Paramount began phasing its return-to-office plan beginning in January 2026 as part of what it described in the filing as creating “a more connected, agile organization” that would unlock its “full potential.”
The news comes less than two weeks after Paramount began slashing what is expected to amount to 10% of its jobs spread across its television, film, streaming and corporate divisions. The cuts began with about 1,000 of its U.S.-based jobs with another 1,000 to follow, Paramount CEO David Ellison wrote in a memo that was made public late last month.
The regulatory filing Monday stated that the cuts would allow the company to “streamline decision-making and reduce the friction that can prevent great ideas from advancing.”
The restructuring follows Paramount finalizing its merger with Skydance Media in August, creating the new entertainment giant Paramount Skydance. The transaction was delayed by President Donald Trump‘s $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News, a Paramount subsidiary, accusing it of deceptively editing a 60 Minutes interview with then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
While Paramount said the lawsuit was meritless, it settled with Trump for $16 million. That cleared the way for the merger, but drew criticism that the company capitulated to Trump and suggested it amounted to a bribe.
Paramount drew further criticism for cancelling Trump critic Stephen Colbert‘s late-night talk show on CBS. However, Jon Stewart, another Trump critic, recently renewed his contract to host The Daily Show every Monday through December 2026.