Paramount Skydance employees are voting with their feet in the wake of a strict return-to-office mandate. About 600 employees—mainly those at the VP level and below—chose to take buyouts instead of returning to the office full time, Fortune reports. The move followed a companywide email in September from CEO David Ellison, who emphasized the value of in-person work and cited it as key to unlocking the company's potential after a rocky period, per the memo seen by Fox News Digital.
The mass departure cost the newly merged media giant $185 million in severance pay, according to recent company filings. The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring plan, with Paramount anticipating $1.7 billion in total restructuring costs, per Fortune. The company aims to cut another $1 billion in expenses, based on Ellison's earlier pledge to find $2 billion in savings following the merger. Plans include divesting from some international firms and slashing an additional 1,600 jobs, after already starting a round of 1,000 layoffs last month.
Industry analysts suggest that return-to-office mandates are increasingly being used as a tool for "back-door layoffs," a way for companies to reduce head count without formal firings. A recent BambooHR survey indicated that about a quarter of executives hope RTO policies prompt voluntary departures, while a fifth of HR professionals say these mandates are intentionally designed to shrink staff.
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Paramount isn't alone in this approach—NBCUniversal has issued a similar ultimatum for employees to return four days a week or take severance by January. All this comes as companies across sectors ramp up investment in productivity-boosting technologies like AI, signaling that more layoffs could be on the horizon as firms prioritize efficiency over head count.
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