Paramount Global is sharpening its ax in preparation for a wave of massive layoffs that could hit as many as 800 jobs, according to a new report.
The debt-laden entertainment giant, which is up for sale, plans to begin cutting hundreds of jobs in February. Deadline reported Late Sunday.
Here's the news Wall Street Journal report The company announced in December that it was considering potentially cutting more than 1,000 jobs in early 2024 to cut costs.
A Paramount spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Paramount stock, which includes CBS, Hollywood studio Paramount, Showtime and MTV, rose about 3% to $13.81 in midday trading Monday.
Shari Redstone, the daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone, owns a majority of Paramount's voting stock through her company National Amusements.
She has also submitted an offer from National Amusements, as $37.5 million of her $175 million loan from Wells Fargo is due in March, the Post recently reported. Ta.
Controlling costs across the company could attract potential buyers. Deadline reported that the wave of layoffs is expected to occur around February 13th, but affected employees could be notified and asked to leave sooner.
Despite rumors of a sale, Paramount is not the only media company to have cut jobs in recent weeks. NBCUniversal cut 50 to 100 employees earlier this month, and Disney's Pixar Animation Studios is bracing for impending layoffs that could result in up to 300 layoffs.
Paramount, which was formed when Viacom and CBS reunited in 2019, has faced challenges related to cord-cutting, a weak advertising market, loss-making streaming service Paramount+ and instability in the movie business.
Paramount's stock is now worth less than half of what it was when the merger was completed.
