Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said Thursday that the company will cut jobs in an effort to reduce spending and become a leaner company.
Bakish said the entertainment industry faces a weak advertising market, the recent Hollywood double strike and a “volatile” macroeconomic environment as it transitions from traditional film and television to streaming. Ta.
In a memo to staff seen by Reuters, he said Paramount would work to control costs to improve profitability.
“As in past years, this means we will continue to reduce our workforce globally,” Bakish wrote in the memo. The company did not disclose the scale of the layoffs.
Overall, more than 21,000 employees were laid off at 76 tech companies in January, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi.
The tech industry cut 168,032 jobs in 2023, accounting for the highest number of layoffs across industries, according to a report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas earlier this month.
Bakish acknowledged that the media company “remains a topic of speculation,” but outlined the company's strategic priorities for this year in a staff memo.
David Ellison has expressed interest in buying the Redstone family's holding company, National Amusements, as a way to gain control of Paramount Global. He is considering merging Paramount with his own film and television studio, Skydance Media. Neither Mr. Ellison nor National Amusements commented on these reports.
“It's no surprise that Paramount remains a topic of speculation,” Bakish wrote. “We are a well-known publicly traded company in a closely related industry.”
Bakish would not comment further on potential acquisition talks, saying the best course of action for the company is to “focus on what we can control: execution.” The top priorities are to drive revenue growth and control costs, he wrote.
Paramount will focus its resources on its “strongest and most resonant franchises, films and series,” Bakish said, and produce fewer domestic and international originals.
Paramount is home to film series such as “Top Gun'' and “Mission: Impossible,'' as well as the popular television show “Yellowstone.''
The company seeks to squeeze the most profit out of these assets by distributing them across multiple platforms, including streaming, film, television and licensing, he said.
In the memo, Bakish said the company will continue to strive to improve profitability in its streaming business and will “lean further into large markets such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, where the company has a strong presence and American studios.” ” he said. The content is “most relatable.”
The CEO said the company will continue to encourage greater collaboration across teams, time zones and departments to deliver better results.
“In many ways, 2024 will be the next great step in our transformation,” Bakish wrote.
