Paramount has launched its workforce-reduction plan, cutting 15 percent of US staff to save $500 million amid industry challenges.
Paramount Global is pressing ahead with its much-anticipated workforce reduction plan, with a company spokesperson confirming to The Epoch Times that the company has started laying off its U.S. staff.
The cuts will take place in three phases starting on Aug. 13 and running through the end of the year, with the spokesperson saying that when the reductions are completed, 15 percent of Paramount’s U.S.-based workers will lose their jobs.
“The industry continues to evolve, and Paramount is at an inflection point where changes must be made to strengthen our business,” the co-CEOs wrote in the memo.
“We know that having to part ways with teammates whose contributions have been instrumental to our success is incredibly hard,” they continued. “In partnership with our HR leaders, we are committed to providing support to employees transitioning on from Paramount and to our teams who will need to adapt to these changes.”
Neither the memo nor the company spokesperson disclosed the specific number of employees that will be laid off as part of the cuts, which are part of the company’s effort to save $500 million in annual costs in line with Paramount’s strategic plan that was first laid out in June.
The company reported an 11 percent revenue drop over the three-month period ended on June 30, 2024, with its TV networks seeing their revenue decline by 17 percent. Paramount’s streaming business turned a profit for the first time, with revenues climbing 13 percent over the quarter.
Paramount posted an operating loss of $5.32 billion for the quarter, due in part to a massive $5.98 billion goodwill impairment charge on its cable networks, a move that acknowledges that this asset class is losing value as customers increasingly turn to streaming services.
Overall, Paramount posted a net loss of $5.4 billion over the period, putting the company $5.97 billion in the hole for the first half of 2024.
Shares of Paramount, which own major media brands including CBS, MTV, and Comedy Central, were mostly flat in midday trading on Aug. 13.