Skydance executives have told employees that layoffs will be part of integrating Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, days after the companies closed a roughly $110 billion merger and began operating as a single company.
In a memo sent Tuesday, chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said combining the two businesses “will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce.” They added that the process would be handled “thoughtfully and respectfully,” but they did not say how many jobs would be cut, which divisions would be hit, or when reductions would begin. The note, reported by Variety and Deadline, was the first clear acknowledgment from leadership after closing that workforce cuts are coming.
The company is targeting at least $6 billion in run-rate cost savings over three years. Executives have previously said most of that figure is expected from non-labor sources: unifying streaming technology stacks, including Paramount+ and HBO Max; consolidating procurement and back-office systems; cutting overlapping marketing spend; and shrinking the real-estate footprint.
Deal architect Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital told the Bloomberg Screentime conference on October 1 that treating the entire $6 billion target as layoffs was “completely antiquated,” though he also said some labor rationalization is inevitable in a challenged industry.
An August study commissioned by Los Angeles County estimated that about 4,500 direct film and television jobs in the county could be lost over the three-year integration, with roughly 10,360 job-years at risk once indirect work at suppliers, vendors, and related businesses is included. County officials and the study’s authors stressed that those figures are an economic-impact estimate, not a forecast of cuts Skydance has announced.
The combined company starts with nearly $70 billion in annual revenue, more than 200 million streaming subscribers, and about $80 billion in debt. Its assets include the Paramount and Warner Bros. film and television studios, CBS, HBO, CNN, the companies’ cable networks, and libraries spanning sports, news, and scripted entertainment. Ellison oversees creative direction and strategy; Kreiz, the former Mattel chief executive, oversees day-to-day operations and integration.
Under terms tied to regulatory clearance, Skydance agreed to honor existing collective bargaining agreements, put $47.5 million into a workforce fund over five years for training and career support for displaced employees, and commit additional spending on U.S. film production. None of those conditions sets a cap on layoffs.
The combined company starts with nearly $70 billion in annual revenue, more than 200 million streaming subscribers, and about $80 billion in debt. Its assets include the Paramount and Warner Bros. film and television studios, CBS, HBO, CNN, the companies’ cable networks, and libraries spanning sports, news, and scripted entertainment. Ellison oversees creative direction and strategy; Kreiz, the former Mattel chief executive, oversees day-to-day operations and integration.
Under terms tied to regulatory clearance, Skydance agreed to honor existing collective bargaining agreements, put $47.5 million into a workforce fund over five years for training and career support for displaced employees, and commit additional spending on U.S. film production. None of those conditions sets a cap on layoffs.