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Paramount Skydance is dealing with an exodus of around 600 employees who resigned rather than comply with a new five-day office mandate following its recent merger.
The mass departures follow the joining of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, finalized earlier this year.
CEO David Ellison informed workers in September that beginning January 5, staff would be required to work in person full time. Employees unwilling to return were offered buyout packages starting September 15. What was intended as a retention measure instead led to widespread resignations and a costly restructuring process.
According to company filings released Monday, roughly 600 employees in the Los Angeles and New York offices accepted the offer, primarily at vice-president level and below. The severance payouts added up to $185million in what the company terms “restructuring changes.”
Ellison pushes in-person culture
Ellison defended the decision, saying physical collaboration was critical to the company’s future. “I believe that in-person collaboration is absolutely vital to building and strengthening our culture and driving the success of our business,” he wrote in a memo. “Our people are the key to winning, and being together helps us innovate, solve problems, share ideas, create, challenge one another, and build relationships that will make this company great.”
The reorganization adds to earlier cuts, with 1,000 jobs already eliminated this year and another 1,600 expected as the company sells assets including Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. Despite these reductions, Paramount Skydance said it plans to invest more than $1.5billion in new programming by 2026.
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Cost pressures and wider industry trend
The mass exits place Paramount Skydance among a growing list of media companies grappling with the fallout from return-to-office policies. NBCUniversal has also ordered staff back four days per week starting in January, while Comcast introduced similar requirements earlier this year.
Research suggests some executives view the mandates as an indirect workforce reduction strategy. A 2024 BambooHR study found that 37% of managers said layoffs occurred because fewer employees than expected quit after RTO mandates, while 25% of executives and 18% of HR leaders admitted they hoped the policies would encourage voluntary departures.
For Paramount Skydance, the policy shift is coupled with consumer price increases. Paramount Plus will raise its monthly subscription fees by $1 in January, with the ad-supported plan climbing to $8.99 and the ad-free tier to $13.99.
“Our ongoing investments in Paramount Plus are enhancing the value we deliver to consumers,” Ellison said, adding that further price adjustments are expected in early 2026.
