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Good morning, CFOs. Skydance’s Paramount wants its workers back to the office five days a week, beginning in January, and the company is giving staff two weeks to comply or the option of taking severance pay.
The WSJ Leadership Institute’s CFO Journal checked in with Jessica Toonkel, who reported on CEO David Ellison and his memo to staff on Thursday. Employees at the vice president level and below in New York and Los Angeles have until Sept. 15 to make their decision. Those not interested in shifting to five days from the current expectation of at least two days in the office can participate in an “opt-in severance program,” he said.
The announcement comes just weeks after Skydance closed its merger with Paramount Global, the home of CBS, MTV and its namesake movie studio.
Why is Paramount making this move now?
Toonkel: This is one of the first moves by Skydance CEO David Ellison since his company completed its merger with Paramount in August. Ellison has said (both in a recent town hall as well as in his memo to employees) that he thinks being all together is very important, particularly in creative industries like entertainment so he wants everyone back in the office five days a week.
What are you hearing regarding the reaction within the company? What has been the response and do they expect full compliance?
Toonkel: The employees I have spoken to are most upset that Paramount is only giving them nine days to let the company know if they will return to work five days a week or if they want to take a severance package. For some employees, they just got their kids back to school and figured out child care, so this is a major shift. The most cynical employees have expressed that they believe the move is an effort to cut costs. As we have reported, Skydance executives have said they plan to cut more than $2 billion in costs.
What happens next? Do you expect more companies to try this?
Toonkel: I do think more companies are going to go to four to five days a week in the office. We have seen employers like Amazon and Starbucks move in this direction, and I think there will be more.
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