Paramount Global announced on Tuesday that it will be cutting 3.5% of its U.S. workforce. The layoffs will impact several hundred employees, primarily in finance, legal, technology, and other support functions. In a company-wide memo, Paramount’s three co-CEOs, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins, cited the “continued industry-wide and dynamic macro-economic environment” as the reason for the job cuts.
They also emphasized the company’s priority on its growing streaming business. The memo stated, “We are taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization this week.” Affected employees were notified on the same day as the announcement. Paramount, which owns CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures, employed approximately 18,600 people globally at the end of 2024.
paramount implements workforce reductions
While the current cuts mainly affect the U.S. workforce, the memo suggested that some global employees might be impacted in the future. “We are committed to ensuring all impacted employees are supported with care and respect during this time,” the co-CEOs wrote in the message.
This round of layoffs follows a previous reduction of about 15% of the company’s U.S.-based workforce last year, which primarily focused on marketing, communications, and redundant corporate functions. Paramount is not alone in this trend, as several studios across Hollywood are downsizing amid similar challenges. Last week, another studio laid off several hundred employees in the U.S. and abroad, mainly affecting the film and television marketing teams, television publicity, casting and development, as well as corporate financial operations.
The layoffs come just one day after Paramount announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Naveen Chopra, would be resigning at the end of the month to join online game company Roblox as its CFO. As Paramount continues to navigate the challenging economic landscape and focus on investments in its streaming business, the company’s leadership acknowledges the difficulty of these decisions and expresses gratitude for the hard work and contributions of all employees.
