CBS Parent Company Paramount Skydance to Lay Off 1,000 Employees: Reports

Jimin Kim/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Images

CBS parent company Paramount Skydance, the newly merged entertainment giant, will cut around 1,000 jobs this week in the first wave of mass layoffs following its contentious August merger, according to multiple reports.

The reductions, confirmed by multiple sources to Deadline and Bloomberg, mark the first major restructuring since the company’s $8.4 billion merger with Skydance closed in August. International divisions are also expected to see layoffs in the coming weeks.

The cuts, expected mostly across U.S. divisions, mark the beginning of a restructuring that could reportedly see as many as 2,000 staff let go overall, roughly 11 percent of its 18,600 full- and part-time workforce.

“We do not want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter. So, it’s going to be painful,” Paramount president Jeff Shell said following the merger.

The merger, which united CBS, MTV, and the Paramount+ streaming service with Skydance Media, was given Federal Communications Commission regulatory approval after the company paid President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris in 2024.

The deal handed control of the storied studio to 42-year-old David Ellison, son of tech billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison. Since the takeover, Ellison has sought to tighten costs and reshape CBS News.

He appointed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, who has reportedly been eyeing new talent to lead CBS News’ flagship shows. CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson announced on Monday that he is departing the network.