Paramount CEO David Ellison, in one of his first companywide memos, demanded staff come back to the office five days a week or else find a new job.
Ellison, the founder and CEO of Skydance Media, became CEO of Paramount after its long-stalled $8 billion merger with Skydance was finalized last month. Since then, he has warned employees of efficiency changes, and said in an email that the new return-to-office mandate, which will be pushed out in phases starting January 2026, will “unlock Paramount’s full potential,” Fox News reported.
But the mandate came with a not-so-subtle deadline: New York– or Los Angeles–based employees have until Sept. 15 to decide whether they will comply or take a buyout. The company will announce plans for employees based outside New York or L.A. in 2026, Ellison said in the email.
“As I said during our town hall, some of the most formative moments of my life happened in rooms where I was a fly on the wall, listening and learning. I’ve never seen that happen on Zoom,” he wrote, according to Fox News.
Cost-cutting measures
Paramount is the latest company to end COVID-era remote work policies as power shifts back to employers in the context of an increasingly worrying economic environment. Over the past year, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart have all told employees to get back to the office. At times these mandates have been slow to stick or have led to important losses, including for Walmart, which saw its Sam’s Club chief technology officer resign rather than move to the company’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.
The return-to-office mandate comes as Paramount is reportedly preparing to lay off between 2,000 and 3,000 employees in November now that the merger is approved and resolved. As of December 2024, the company had 18,600 employees, Variety reported.
Paramount did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Paramount’s revenues for the first half of the year fell 3% year over year to $14 billion from $14.5 billion. The company reported a slight uptick in overall revenue for the second quarter, but saw a 6% decline in its cash cow TV media segment, which includes broadcast operations like CBS and cable networks, including Showtime and Nickelodeon. Its direct-to-consumer business, which includes Paramount+, increased 15% year over year thanks to a subscription boost and price increases.
Post-merger, Paramount has sought deals to spur growth, especially for its streaming services. The company in July signed a $1.5 billion landmark deal to host the animated comedy South Park on Comedy Central and Paramount+ for five years. The company also signed a three-year deal with Legendary Entertainment to market and distribute its theatrical films globally, starting with the new Street Fighter film set to release next year.
At the same time, executives previously said $2 billion in potential cost cuts could be realized under the combined company.
