Paramount Global is expected to lay off fewer than 100 employees in Los Angeles and New York, The Wrap has confirmed.
The majority of the cuts will impact the company’s ad sales group, which has been undergoing a transformation overseen by new Paramount Advertising head John Halley. Employees in the CBS Studios and Paramount Television Studios divisions will also be affected.
The job cuts come after Paramount Global president Bob Bakish warned during the company’s third quarter earnings call earlier this month about “ongoing macroeconomic pressures” impacting the industry and advertising market.
“As we navigate this period, Paramount will continue to rely on the fiscally disciplined approach that has been our advantage in good times and bad,” Bakish said at the time. “We have always been mindful of cost management as a company, and we are now taking additional steps to improve efficiency across our
organization.”
Bakish said that Paramount intends to reorganize Showtime networks, Showtime OTT and Paramount Television Studios into other parts of the company.
“This will further align our studios network and streaming operations in ways that enable significant cost reductions and advance our strategic agenda,” he said.
In addition, Bakish said Paramount is “doing work with respect to international operations, marketing and ad sales.”
Chief financial officer Naveen Chopra added that the company’s cost savings would be “meaningful and sizable” but declined to elaborate on specifics.
Paramount Global shares were down nearly 6% on Wednesday and 43% year to date. The selloff came a day after Paramount shot up 9% in late-morning trading after Berkshire Hathaway revealed it bought 15% of the Paramount stock available for trading, as of Sept. 30.
Other major streaming players that have been hit with layoffs this year include Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery. In addition, Disney CEO Bob Chapek has announced plans for a hiring freeze and job cuts.
Deadline was the first to report the Paramount layoffs.
