Paramount on Wednesday began cutting about 1,000 employees, the first wave of a deep staff reduction planned since David Ellison took the helm of the entertainment company in August.<\/p>\n
Ellison announced the layoffs in an early morning email to his staff, saying the long-anticipated move was aimed at \u201cbuilding a strong foundation for the future.\u201d Wednesday\u2019s cuts represent about 5% of the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we begin the difficult process of informing impacted team members across the company,\u201d Ellison wrote. \u201cThese decisions are never made lightly, especially given their effect on our colleagues who have made meaningful contributions to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
People familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment said the layoffs were being felt throughout the organization, including at CBS, CBS News, cable channels including MTV and Comedy Central, television production as well as the historic Melrose Avenue film studio. <\/p>\n
Another 1,000 jobs are expected to be cut at a later date, ultimately bringing the total reduction to about 10% of Paramount\u2019s current workforce, sources said.<\/p>\n
The move was expected<\/a>. Paramount\u2019s new owners \u2014 Ellison\u2019s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners \u2014 had told investors they planned to eliminate more than $2 billion in expenses<\/a>, and Wednesday\u2019s workforce reduction was a preliminary step toward that goal. <\/p>\n The company\u2019s staff had grown to nearly 20,000 people in August, when Skydance Media\u2019s roughly 1,300 workers joined Paramount as part of the $8-billion takeover of the media firm long controlled by the Sumner Redstone family.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some areas, we are addressing redundancies that have emerged across the organization,\u201d Ellison wrote. \u201cIn others, we are phasing out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth. Ultimately, these steps are necessary to position Paramount for long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n Paramount has been shedding staff for years. <\/p>\n More than 800 people \u2014 or about 3.5% of the company\u2019s workforce \u2014 were laid off in June, <\/a> prior to the Ellison family takeover. At the time, Paramount\u2019s management attributed the cuts to the decline of cable television subscriptions and an increased emphasis on bulking up its streaming TV business. In 2024, the company eliminated 2,000 positions, or 15% of its staff. <\/p>\n Longtime CBS News journalist John Dickerson announced earlier this week<\/a> that he would exit in December. The co-anchor of the \u201cCBS Evening News,\u201d Dickerson has been a familiar network face for more than 15 years, completing tours at \u201cCBS This Morning\u201d<\/a> and the Sunday public affairs show \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d He was named the network\u2019s evening news co-anchor<\/a> in January alongside Maurice DuBois<\/a> to succeed Norah O\u2019Donnell. The revamp, designed in part to save money, led to a ratings decline.<\/p>\n The Paramount layoffs are the latest sign of contraction across the entertainment and tech sectors.<\/p>\n Amazon said this week it was eliminating roughly 14,000 corporate jobs<\/a> amid its embrace of artificial intelligence to perform more functions. Last week, Facebook parent company Meta<\/a> disclosed that it was cutting 600 jobs in its AI division. <\/p>\n