Paramount Global is cutting back its U.S. workforce by 3.5%, with several hundred employees impacted.
The move was announced in a companywide joint memo from CBS chief executive George Cheeks; Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president and CEO Chris McCarthy; and Paramount Pictures head Brian Robbins.
The three CEOs cited “continued industry-wide linear declines and dynamic macro-economic environment” for the job eliminations. The memo did not detail which divisions were impacted.
Furthermore, the trio wrote in the memo obtained by ADWEEK, in the interest of prioritizing investments in its streaming business, they are taking “necessary steps” to streamline the organization starting this week. The memo also stated that the process might also affect the workforce outside of the U.S. over time.
The news of the latest round of layoffs comes as Paramount awaits FCC approval for its merger with Skydance Media and just one day after it was announced that Naveen Chopra was stepping down as chief financial officer. It was also reported last week that Paramount had cut ties with longtime media agency WPP.
Paramount is the latest media company to undergo a round of layoffs. Last week, Disney made several hundred cuts across its marketing, publicity, and financial operations units, while Warner Bros. Discovery eliminated just under 100 positions.
See the full memo from the Paramount Global co-CEOs:
Hi Everyone,
As we navigate the continued industry-wide linear declines and dynamic macro-economic environment, while prioritizing investments in our growing streaming business, we are taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization starting this week.
We will be reducing our domestic workforce by 3.5%, with the majority of impacted staff being notified today. This process may also result in some impacts to our workforce outside the US over time. As always, any changes will be considered in accordance with local legal obligations.