A proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is raising serious concerns across Hollywood, as CEO David Ellison pushes forward with a plan to cut $6 billion in costs if the deal wins approval.
Ellison has promised investors that the savings will come from "synergies," meaning the removal of duplicate teams and operations once the two companies combine.
The merger would bring together major brands including HBO Max, CNN, thousands of Warner film titles, and dozens of soundstages in California, NY Post reported.
But inside both companies, many workers fear those savings will come at the cost of their jobs.
According to reports, employees at Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are bracing for what one insider described as a potential "bloodbath."
A Paramount staffer said there were stunned reactions inside the Los Angeles office after news broke that Warner's board accepted the deal.
Some workers are now hoping the company will offer voluntary buyouts before making deeper cuts.
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Paramount Already Trimmed Workforce
Warner Bros.' production division alone employs about 7,500 people out of the company's 35,000 total staff.
Paramount, which once had nearly 20,000 employees, has already gone through layoffs in the past year.
According to Yahoo, Ellison previously cut around 1,000 jobs and planned to reduce another 1,000. With the two companies combining, insiders believe more reductions are likely.
"Think about the bloodletting of thousands of employees at CBS and Paramount, and now it will be more. Just awful," one insider told Variety.
Another source added, "It's really going to be a shakeup for the whole community, the losses of jobs and content."
Ellison has said the merged company would release about 30 films each year and keep a 45-day exclusive theatrical window before streaming. Still, industry analysts warn that cost-cutting on this scale almost always leads to major restructuring.
The deal also faces regulatory hurdles. California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently said the merger "is not a done deal" and confirmed that the state's Department of Justice is reviewing it.
Others point to the company's combined debt load, estimated at $79 billion after the merger, as another reason downsizing may continue.
Originally published on vcpost.com
