Paramount to mandate five-day return to office starting January

In a memo sent to staff on Thursday, Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison announced that all company employees will be required to work in the office five days a week.

Primarily, the full-time return will be implemented as part of a project management strategy, beginning on January 5, 2026.

In a memo to employees, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison announced that the company's return to office plan will be carried out in two phases.

In August, Ellison announced plans to move the company onto a single technology platform and find efficiencies in labor, real estate, and procurement with a goal of achieving a previously announced $2 billion in cost savings.

Paramount is mandating five-day-a-week return to the office for employees in Los Angeles and New York on January 5. The company is offering a severance opt-in program for those who are unwilling to return to the office full-time.

Paramount will announce its plans for a second phase of its return-to-office strategy next year. This phase will address those not assigned to the Los Angeles or New York offices as well as those in international offices and those originally hired for fully remote roles.

A buyout program for these staff members will also be included in the plans.

Ellison said in the memo, “I believe that in person collaboration is absolutely vital to building and strengthening our culture and driving the success for our business.”

The push comes after a Variety report in August stated that Paramount was looking to cut between 2000 and 3000 jobs by early November, following its merger with production studio Skydance.