Paramount employees are bracing for a major shift in workplace culture as the company moves to a full in-office schedule under David Ellison, the new CEO. In a memo to staff this week, Ellison outlined plans for full-time employees in New York and Los Angeles to return to offices five days a week starting January 2026.
The change affects workers across Paramount Pictures, CBS, Paramount+, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET and Comedy Central. Staff unwilling to adopt the new policy will be offered severance packages, signalling that the move is not optional but a firm reset of corporate culture.
The return-to-office order comes as Paramount begins integrating with Skydance following their $8 billion merger earlier this year. Ellison has made clear that the restructuring will be sweeping, with the company targeting more than $2 billion in cost savings through consolidations and redundancies. For employees, the shift means adapting not just to a new leadership style but also to significant changes in how and where they work.
The policy contrasts sharply with the hybrid or flexible models many media companies adopted during the pandemic. For Paramount staff based in Manhattan’s Times Square headquarters and at the historic Melrose Avenue lot in Los Angeles, the requirement effectively ends remote work arrangements that most had got used to in recent years.
The decision is part of Ellison’s effort to reorient the company, which has already seen layoffs, asset sales, and aggressive content deals. But for thousands of employees, the most immediate change will be felt in their daily routines—commutes, office presence, and work-life balance—making Paramount one of the few entertainment giants mandating a full return to office.
