(MENAFN- Live Mint) Paramount Skydance is set to begin mass layoffs the week of October 27, eliminating approximately 2,000 US jobs as part of a significant cost-cutting plans. This move is central to a wider $2 billion cost-reduction plan spearheaded by new CEO David Ellison, reported Variety on Saturday.

The layoffs follow the formal $8.4 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global, which was finalized in August.

While the initial phase of layoffs focuses on the United States, additional international job cuts are anticipated.

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The company is expected to provide full details regarding the global workforce reduction in its third quarter earnings report on November 10, said the report.

Previously, Variety had reported on 22 August that Paramount was targeting a reduction of between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs by early November.

As of December 2024, Paramount Global's workforce included nearly 18,600 full- and part-time employees, alongside 3,500 project-based staff.

Under its former leadership, Paramount attracted criticism from the Trump administration, which leveled accusations of political bias against the company's CBS News division. This culminated in July, when President Donald Trump reached a $16 million settlement with Paramount. The lawsuit stemmed from Trump's claims that CBS News had favorably edited an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.

Also Read | Warner Bros rejected Paramount's 'too low' $20/share takeover offer, says report

Looking forward, CEO David Ellison has been vocal about his vision for the media landscape, noting a significant opportunity for consolidation within the industry, as reported by Bloomberg on October 10.

“There's a lot of options out there in terms of what actually might be actionable in the near future,” Ellison had said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles.“We would approach that through the lens of wanting to make more, not less.”

Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that Ellison was weighing a bid for Warner Bros.

“Ironically, it was (Warner Bros. CEO) David Zaslav last year that said, you know, consolidation in the media business is important,” Ellison said.

“And the way we approach everything is first and foremost what's good for the talent community, what's good for our shareholders and value creation, and what's good for basically storytelling at large,” he added.

Other would-be acquisitions of media assets“are very large-scale players that would in effect, could potentially create monopolies,” he said.

Under Ellison's direction, Paramount took a firm stance against a proposed Hollywood boycott of the Israeli film industry following the Gaza war.

Ellison stated the decision was based on principle: "We made a statement that discriminating based on where somebody is from is wrong."

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