Paramount's Big Shake-Up: What's Next for Employees?

Paramount Global has been through a lot lately. The company has been in talks with Skydance Media for over a year. They finally agreed to merge in July 2024. But the deal had to go through the FCC. That process was not easy. Critics said Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit. They thought this was to get President Trump's support. CBS also canceled "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. " Many people thought this was another move to please Trump. CBS said it was just a financial decision. The FCC had some conditions for the merger. Skydance promised to end diversity programs at Paramount. They also agreed to have an ombudsman at CBS. This person would check for bias in news and entertainment. Some people thought this was a bad idea. They said it went against the First Amendment. Paramount has already cut many jobs. They plan to cut more after the merger. The company has about 18, 600 employees now. Two years ago, they had 24, 500. Skydance has around 500 employees. The new leader, Jeff Shell, said they will save $2 billion a year. Most of these savings will come from cutting jobs in linear TV. Some top leaders at Paramount will leave after the merger. Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins are expected to go. George Cheeks will stay on as CBS CEO. Skydance and its partners will put $1. 5 billion into Paramount. This money will help reduce the company's debt. The debt is $14. 16 billion as of early 2025. The merger is almost done. Now, Skydance has to fix Paramount's problems. They need to make the company more competitive. This will be a big job. Many employees are worried about their futures. The next few weeks will be crucial.