[US] 600 Paramount Skydance employees choose severance over return to office mandate

In the US, hundreds of employees at Paramount Skydance have opted to take a voluntary buyout package rather than coming back to the office full-time or being involuntarily terminated, Yahoo reports.

The company was formed following Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global and is currently helmed by CEO David Ellison. 

It reportedly informed employees in early September that all staffers would be expected to work in the office five days a week from January 5, 2026. Those who didn’t want to comply with the directive were told they would be able to seek a buyout from September 15.

In a letter to shareholders about the company’s Q3 2025 financial results, Mr Ellison stated that in Phase 1 of the return-to-office program, employees in Paramount Skydance’s L.A. and New York offices (at the VP level and below) were given the option of a voluntary severance package if they were “unable or unwilling to return to the office full time.” 

According to his letter, approximately 600 employees “chose this option”.

Mr Ellison and company president Jeff Shell had reportedly signalled that big layoffs were pending following the Skydance-Paramount deal’s August 7 close. 

At the end of October, Paramount Skydance implemented a major workforce reduction, laid off around 1,000 employees. An additional 1,000 layoffs are now expected to follow. The layoffs will ultimately reduce about 10 per cent of the company’s staff. 

“These were difficult but necessary decisions, and we remain deeply grateful for the meaningful contributions of those impacted,” Mr Ellison wrote in the shareholder letter.

Source: Yahoo

(Links and first quote via original reporting)

In the US, hundreds of employees at Paramount Skydance have opted to take a voluntary buyout package rather than coming back to the office full-time or being involuntarily terminated, Yahoo reports.

The company was formed following Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global and is currently helmed by CEO David Ellison. 

It reportedly informed employees in early September that all staffers would be expected to work in the office five days a week from January 5, 2026. Those who didn’t want to comply with the directive were told they would be able to seek a buyout from September 15.

In a letter to shareholders about the company’s Q3 2025 financial results, Mr Ellison stated that in Phase 1 of the return-to-office program, employees in Paramount Skydance’s L.A. and New York offices (at the VP level and below) were given the option of a voluntary severance package if they were “unable or unwilling to return to the office full time.” 

According to his letter, approximately 600 employees “chose this option”.

Mr Ellison and company president Jeff Shell had reportedly signalled that big layoffs were pending following the Skydance-Paramount deal’s August 7 close. 

At the end of October, Paramount Skydance implemented a major workforce reduction, laid off around 1,000 employees. An additional 1,000 layoffs are now expected to follow. The layoffs will ultimately reduce about 10 per cent of the company’s staff. 

“These were difficult but necessary decisions, and we remain deeply grateful for the meaningful contributions of those impacted,” Mr Ellison wrote in the shareholder letter.

Source: Yahoo

(Links and first quote via original reporting)