Paramount Skydance is reportedly bracing for a planned round of mass layoffs earlier than expected. 

Instead of November, as originally reported, the cuts will now begin on October 27, according to Deadline, and will continue until the end of the year. Roughly 2,000 employees will be let go in the US, along with a number of international roles that are still being determined. (Previous reports have suggested that up to 3,000 positions could be eliminated overall.)

Kidscreen has reached out to the conglomerate for comment.

The new cuts will target several departments, including theatrical, streaming and linear. While Paramount’s global workforce is somewhere in the 18,000 range, Skydance has fewer than 2,000 employees in total. 

This downsizing has been anticipated for many months, as the new management under David Ellison has sought to hit US$2 billion in cost savings after Skydance merged with Paramount over the summer. 

New company president Jeff Shell has been open about the thought process behind the mass layoffs. At an August press event, he said that he wanted to get all the layoffs done at once, instead of slowly letting go of staff over time. “So, it’s going to be painful. It’s always hard, but we don’t want to be a company that every quarter is laying people off,” he said.

The date shuffle means Paramount will now have an opportunity to speak more in-depth about the cuts during its Q3 financial call, which has been scheduled for November 10. The Q3 earnings call may also possibly shed some light on Ellison’s rumored bid for Paramount to acquire WBD—an offer ​​of US$20 per share that was rejected by WBD CEO David Zaslav, according to sources at Bloomberg last week.

Before the merger, Ellison and Shell hinted that they would prioritize four-quadrant films and children’s content, but the new company’s kids & family strategy has yet to materialize.

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