Paramount Skydance reportedly speeding up mass layoffs

Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) plans to lay off around 2,000 of its employees starting from the final week of October, accelerating a prior timeline to begin mass layoffs in November, Variety reported on Saturday.

The job cuts are set to begin on Oct. 27 as an initial round of layoffs, impacting the company’s U.S. as well as overseas employees. They are expected to continue throughout the year, according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

Soon after Skydance Media closed its $8B merger with Paramount Global in August, David Ellison, chairman and CEO of the newly formed entity, announced plans to realize $2B in cost savings, and there were reports that the company was targeting a massive round of layoffs by early November.

Paramount’s latest 10-K filing says that roughly 18,600 full-time and part-time employees serve the company across 32 countries. Skydance has more than 500 workers in two continents, according to the company website.