Skydance, as it embarks on the work to integrate the businesses of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, is offering certain employees a voluntary buyout in a “one-time offer.” The new program was outlined by chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz in a memo to staffers Monday. To give eligible employees the option to move on in a way that works for them, we are introducing a Voluntary Buyout (VBO) Program,” the execs wrote.
We are clear about what we’re building: a company that tells the stories people around the world love, embraces new ways to connect with audiences, and leads the next era of media and entertainment. We have the talent, the creative firepower and the ambition to do it, and we will get there together.” Paramount’s massive $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery closed on Oct. 6.
In their “Day One” memo to employees that day, Ellison and Kreiz (who was the CEO of Mattel before joining the new Skydance earlier this month) acknowledged that layoffs will be part of the process. Especially in a creative company like ours, the best ideas come from people in the same room, sharing perspectives, challenging one another and solving problems,” the execs said. We’ve seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them.” Skydance execs have said they are shooting to achieve more than $6 billion in cost savings on an annualized basis within three years, and part of that will come from layoffs.
The company has not revealed at this point the extent of the job cuts it expects. According to a report issued by Los Angeles County in August, the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger could result in the loss of some 4,500 film and TV jobs over three years in L.A. alone. Read the full memo sent by Skydance’s top brass Monday, a copy of which was obtained by Variety: At Skydance, our goal is to build the next-generation media and entertainment company, powered by creativity and technology.
We are creative-first, audience focused, tech-forward and globally scaled. And in a world of endless choice and fierce competition for attention, we don’t just want to succeed. To do that, we must be a strong, connected and agile company.
Among our business and creative priorities, none matters more than building a strong culture, because it’s the foundation of everything we want to achieve. Winning requires us to work as one team: one company, fully aligned. That means communicating openly and collaborating efficiently across every part of the organization.
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