Skydance Offers Buyouts as It Mandates Five-Day Office Return
The merger with Warner Bros. Discovery is driving a search for $6 billion in savings, with new policies rolling out across the combined staff.
By Gabriela Ivanov ·
David Ellison and co-Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz notified employees on Monday that Skydance Corp. is launching a voluntary buyout program. The offer comes alongside a new mandate requiring staff to work in offices five days a week. The company is integrating its operations three weeks after closing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Ellison and Kreiz wrote in a memo to the team that the leadership understands not everyone will see a future with the combined entity. They stated that the company respects that reality. The buyout is a one-time payment intended for specific staff members. The company has not revealed the total number of eligible workers or the exact number of positions it aims to eliminate.
The office policy will be introduced in phases by location. Ellison previously required a five-day in-office schedule at Paramount after Skydance acquired that studio last year. The new rule applies to employees across the entire Skydance organization as the merger settles.
The Warner Bros. Discovery deal closed on Oct. 6. That transaction placed the Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios, CBS, CNN, and HBO under one corporate umbrella. The combined entity now operates under the Skydance name. Management is targeting $6 billion in cost reductions over the next three years. The company aims to secure $2 billion of those savings during the first year.
Ellison has said the savings will primarily come from changes in technology, procurement, and real estate. He indicated that workforce reductions would be a smaller part of the equation. However, the merger is expected to result in some layoffs. A Skydance representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the specifics of the buyout program.
A report commissioned in August by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity and the county Film Office estimated the merger could eliminate about 4,500 jobs in Los Angeles County over three years. The company has not yet announced how many employees could be affected by these cuts or the voluntary buyout offers.
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