Skydance Corp. is offering voluntary buyouts to some employees while requiring workers to return to office five days a week, CNBC reported Monday.
Nearly three weeks after completing its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the entertainment company, led by David Ellison, notified employees Monday of the one-time buyout program as it begins integrating the two businesses and pursuing billions of dollars in cost reductions, according to CNBC.
“As we bring our teams together, we recognize that not everyone will see their future here, and we respect that,” Ellison and co-Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz wrote in a memo to employees.
Eligible employees will receive individual notifications about the buyout offers, although the company did not disclose how many workers would qualify or how many positions it hopes to eliminate.
The memo also outlined plans to require employees across Skydance to work in offices five days a week, with the policy being introduced in phases by location. Ellison had previously implemented a five-day in-office requirement at Paramount following Skydance’s acquisition of the studio last year.
A Skydance representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcements come after the Oct. 6 completion of the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, which brought the Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios, CBS, CNN and HBO under the same corporate ownership.
The combined company, which operates under the Skydance name, is seeking $6 billion in cost reductions over three years, including $2 billion during the first year.
The merger is expected to result in layoffs, although Ellison has said the savings would primarily come from technology, procurement and real estate rather than workforce reductions.
An August report commissioned by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity and the county Film Office estimated that the merger could eliminate about 4,500 jobs in Los Angeles County over three years.
The company has not announced how many employees could be affected by layoffs or the voluntary buyout program.
