Paramount is set to begin laying off 1,000 workers in the first round of cuts
Paramount on Wednesday was expected to lay off 1,000 employees, the first wave of major planned staff cuts since David Ellison took the helm of the entertainment company in August.
The layoffs will be felt across the company, including CBS, CBS News, Comedy Central and other cable channels as well as the historic Melrose Avenue film studio, said people familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment.
Another 1,000 jobs are expected to be cut later, bringing the total reduction to about 10% of Paramount’s workforce, the sources said.
This move was expected. Paramount’s new owners — Ellison’s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners — have told investors they plan to cut more than $2 billion in expenses, and Wednesday’s workforce cuts were an initial step toward that goal.
Paramount has been laying off employees for years.
More than 800 people — or about 3.5% of the company’s workforce — were laid off in June, before the company was acquired by the Ellison family. At the time, Paramount management attributed the cuts to declining cable TV subscriptions and an increased focus on increasing the size of its live television business. In 2024, the company cut 2,000 jobs, or 15% of its employees.
Longtime CBS News journalist John Dickerson announced earlier this week that he will leave his position in December. Dickerson, co-anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” has been a familiar face at the network for more than 15 years, completing tours of “CBS This Morning” and the Sunday public affairs program “Face the Nation.” He was named co-anchor of the network’s evening news in January alongside Maurice DuBois, succeeding Norah O’Donnell. The renovation, designed in part to save money, sent ratings down.
The layoffs at Paramount are the latest sign of downturn in the entertainment and technology sectors.
Amazon said this week it was cutting nearly 14,000 jobs at the company as it embraces artificial intelligence to perform more jobs. Last week, Facebook’s parent company dead It revealed that it will cut 600 jobs in its artificial intelligence department.
Last week, cable and broadband provider Charter Corp., which operates Spectrum service, cut 1,200 management jobs across the country.
Los Angeles’ production economy in particular was affected by the decline in local filming and cost-cutting at major media companies.
As of August, about 112,000 people were employed in the Los Angeles area’s motion picture and sound recording industries—the main category of film and television production. The data does not include everyone who works in the entertainment industry, such as those who work as independent contractors.
That was roughly flat from the previous year, and down 27% compared to 2022 levels, when about 154,000 people were employed locally in the industry, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The industry has struggled to rebound since the 2023 writers and actors strikes, which led to a sharp decline in studio spending after the era of so-called “peak TV,” when…
Studios have dramatically increased their pipeline to build streaming platforms.
“You’ve seen a significant reduction in strikes and their consequences,” said Kevin Claudine, executive director at the Milken Institute of Finance. “The question is, when will these workers exit the industry entirely?”
Local film industry officials expect increased production and increased business after California boosted tax breaks for film and television.
But Southern California’s core industry faces other challenges, including changing consumer habits and competition from social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
“There is a greater concern regarding the financial health of all major operations in Hollywood,” Claudine said. “There is real concern about this level of competition, and what that means.”