Paramount, the entertainment giant, has announced a major layoff of 2,000 to 3,000 employees, scheduled for early November. This devastating news comes at the worst possible time for affected workers, right before the holiday season when families are preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.
The layoffs are part of a broader corporate restructuring following Paramount’s recent merger with Skydance, which installed a new leadership team led by CEO Jeff Shell. One of their first activities as new leadership is to cut costs, and as is typical in corporate America, they’re looking at employees first.
The “Kill List” Strategy: Corporate Restructuring at Its Worst
The new leadership team has instructed managers to start building what they’re calling “kill lists” of employees who will be impacted by these terminations. This terminology, whether intentional or not, reveals the cold, calculated nature of corporate layoffs and the dehumanizing way companies view their workforce.
The fact that they’re using such harsh language to describe the process of determining who gets to keep their jobs highlights the adversarial relationship that has developed between corporations and their employees. It’s a stark reminder that in today’s corporate environment, employees are often viewed as expendable resources rather than valuable team members.
The Merger Effect: New Leadership Means Job Cuts
This situation perfectly illustrates a critical pattern in corporate America: whenever new leadership comes in, whether through a merger, acquisition, or private equity involvement, it’s a major red flag for employees. New leadership teams love to examine corporate structure, bring in their own ideas, and one of the first things they always look at is headcount.
The new leadership at Paramount doesn’t even know who most of the employees are, yet they’re making decisions about who stays and who goes. When employees have to meet with the “Bobs” from corporate, they’re not trying to figure out where to place them in the organization. They’re figuring out if they even need them, looking at them with a very skeptical eye.
The Timing Problem: Holiday Season Layoffs
The timing of these layoffs is particularly cruel, happening right before the holiday season when families are preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Nothing is more joyful than starting the holiday season with complete stress and uncertainty about whether you’ll keep your job.
This timing also creates a perfect storm for affected employees. All these people will be flooding into the job market at the same time, especially if they’re concentrated in certain geographic regions. The job market already has downward pressure, with corporations hiring fewer roles this year than the previous year, and 2026 isn’t expected to look much better.
Don’t Wait for the Market to Recover — Adapt Now
Layoffs and hiring freezes don’t have to define your career. Stay ahead by building in-demand skills, strengthening your professional brand, and positioning yourself for the next opportunity before others flood the market.
Discover New Career Opportunities →The Job Market Reality: A Broken System
The current job market is fundamentally broken. You’re no longer able to park your career in a certain job type or company for a long period of time without disruptions. That stability simply doesn’t exist anymore. People are finding it increasingly difficult to get traction in their careers, with every step forward often resulting in being knocked two steps back.
Corporations have made the employment relationship so adversarial that it’s become nearly impossible to coexist and have successful careers. The only solution is to reclaim control of your career, to become your own CEO, and to start treating your career like it’s a business of one.
The Corporate Shortsightedness: Transactional Relationships
Today’s job market is characterized by very short-term thinking from employers. It’s become a transactional relationship rather than the long-term dedication that used to exist. Companies are very shortsighted, and you could deliver amazing results on December 1st, but by January 1st, you’re no longer needed.
You could even win an award for best employee of the year, and then on January 1st, with a new year, new leader, and new strategy, you could find yourself on the outside looking in. This reality means you can’t just settle into comfort anymore. The job market has changed, and you have to place your own interests first and foremost.
The Strategic Response: Becoming Your Own CEO
The solution to this broken system is to reclaim control of your career and start operating with your best interests as the top priority. This doesn’t mean doing poor work or not being committed to your job. There’s a difference between loyalty and dedication. You can be dedicated to the companies you work for, doing good work while you’re there, but you should be loyal to yourself first and foremost.
This means making decisions that are in your best interest, being very calculated and intentional about your career moves, and not doing anything by winging it or through emotions. Everything should be very specific, very intentional, and very strategic.
The Paramount Employees: Time to Act Now
For Paramount employees, this layoff announcement provides a couple of months to get ready. If you’re at Paramount and watching this unfold, don’t wait until November to update your resume and start networking. The entertainment industry isn’t very big, and there will be a lot of competition hitting the market at the same time.
This is the time to start building targeted networks, getting your name out there, and building an identity for yourself on the open market. Even if you’re not directly affected by the layoffs, anytime there’s new company leadership, especially at the C-suite level, you need to take that very seriously as a red flag.
The Broader Implications: A Pattern of Corporate Behavior
This isn’t just about Paramount. We’re seeing a continuation of this type of activity across corporate America, with more short-term assignments and short-term thinking by employers. Companies make poor decisions on products, corporate rebrands, and strategic direction, and when these decisions fail, the first people they look at are the employees who were just implementing what senior leadership came up with.
These employees are considered expendable, just a line on a spreadsheet. It’s a harsh reality that your job doesn’t belong to you, and corporations are making it increasingly difficult to have successful, stable careers.
The Path Forward: Strategic Career Management
The key to navigating this broken system is to always treat your career like you’re a business of one, keeping things updated and staying strategic. This doesn’t mean job hopping or being a short-termer, but it does mean you can’t just settle into comfort anymore.
You need to operate from a position of strategy and strength, always being prepared for the next move, always building your network, and always keeping your options open. The reality is that the job market has changed, and we have to adapt to survive and thrive in this new environment.
FAQ Section
Q: Why are companies laying off employees right before the holidays?
A: Companies often make layoff decisions based on fiscal year timing and cost-cutting needs, regardless of the impact on employees’ personal lives and holiday plans.
Q: What should employees do when new leadership comes in?
A: New leadership, especially at the C-suite level, should be treated as a red flag. Employees should start networking, updating resumes, and preparing for potential restructuring.
Q: How can employees protect themselves from layoffs?
A: The key is to treat your career like a business of one, always staying strategic, building networks, and keeping options open rather than relying on corporate loyalty.
Q: Is the job market really that broken?
A: Yes, the current job market is fundamentally broken, with short-term thinking, transactional relationships, and employees being viewed as expendable resources rather than valuable team members.
The Bottom Line: Reclaiming Control
Paramount’s layoffs are a harsh reminder of the reality of corporate employment in today’s economy. Jobs don’t belong to employees, and companies will make decisions that prioritize their bottom line over employee welfare. The only way to navigate this broken system is to reclaim control of your career, treat it like a business, and always operate with your best interests as the top priority.
The job market has changed, and we have to adapt to survive. It’s time to start reclaiming control and acting like the CEO of your own career, because no one else is going to look out for your best interests.
