Layoff Hypothesis Hits Paramount Following CEO Memo

Layoffs are apparently within the works at Paramount.

Prime line

On Thursday, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish despatched an inner memo seemingly asserting cuts, saying a 2024 precedence is to drive earnings by rising income and intently managing prices.

The memo got here amid information that talks have heated up for a Paramount purchaser. Bloomberg reported that David Ellison’s Skydance Media is making a proposal to the Redstone household for Nationwide Amusements, a holding firm that immediately or not directly owns 77% of the voting shares of Paramount and likewise controls CBS.

Between the strains

Within the memo, obtained by Adweek, Bakish notes that the stability between income development and managing prices would require “each workforce, division and model to be aligned.”

As the corporate seems to leverage the complete energy of its portfolio and drive streaming TV profitability, Bakish mentioned Paramount will function as a “leaner firm and spend much less.”

The corporate can even look to increase its shared providers mannequin because it tries to “streamline operations.”

“This does imply we’ll proceed to cut back our workforce globally,” Bakish mentioned. “These selections are by no means straightforward however are important on our path to earnings development. We’ll proceed to be as considerate as we might be, talk when there may be data to share, and help our groups all through.”

Right now, it’s not recognized what number of cuts are on the best way, as Paramount declined to remark.

Regardless of a proposal for Paramount, the potential cope with Skydance Media is reportedly preliminary and will nonetheless disintegrate.

Rumors round the way forward for Paramount have been swirling since late final yr after a report that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Bakish had met to talk about a doable merger.

Backside line

The layoff information is the newest to shake the TV and media business, with consultants anticipating extra consolidation because the yr goes on.

In early January, Mike Hopkins, svp at Prime Video and Amazon’s MGM Studios, introduced in a memo despatched to staff that the corporate would lower a number of hundred jobs. As well as, Bloomberg just lately reported that Twitch is shedding 500 staff, or about 35% of its employees.