On September 4, 2025, Paramount CEO David Ellison told staff in a company-wide memo that they must return to the office five days a week, starting January 5, 2026, or accept a severance package. The memo was reported by Variety, CNBC and Fox Business.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The policy
Ellison wrote that the company would begin a phased return-to-office plan, “ultimately moving towards an in-person work environment where employees are in the office full-time (five days a week).” The first phase covered employees assigned to the Los Angeles and New York offices.
Staff who did not want to return, or could not, were offered a severance opt-in programme for vice presidents and below until September 15, 2025. Paramount said it would announce plans for employees outside Los Angeles and New York in 2026. Some production staff who oversee broadcasts from remote venues may not be required to attend an office every day, Variety reported.
The context
The memo came after Skydance Media and Paramount Global completed their roughly $8 billion merger on August 7, 2025. Variety reported that Paramount was preparing to cut between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs as part of a plan to save about $2 billion in costs.
Ellison’s reasons
In the memo, Ellison said that in-person collaboration was “absolutely vital” to the company’s culture and to its success. He said the changes were intended to “unlock Paramount’s full potential.”
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article included unsourced commentary about Ellison’s career and Paramount’s future. Those statements have been removed, and the article reports the memo and the context confirmed by the sources below.
Sources
- Fortune, Paramount CEO David Ellison return-to-office mandate (5 September 2025): https://fortune.com/2025/09/05/paramount-skydance-ceo-david-ellison-return-to-office-mandate
- Variety, Paramount mandates five-day-a-week return to office ahead of massive cost cuts: https://au.variety.com/2025/tv/news/paramount-mandates-five-day-week-return-to-office-cost-cuts-27239
- Storyboard18 (CNBC), Paramount CEO David Ellison issues return-to-office ultimatum in staff memo (8 September 2025): https://storyboard18.com/brand-marketing/paramount-ceo-david-ellison-issues-return-to-office-ultimatum-in-staff-memo-80516.htm
- Fox Business, New Paramount CEO David Ellison tells workers to return to office full-time or take severance: https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/new-paramount-ceo-david-ellison-tells-workers-return-office-full-time-take-severance