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When an organization is going by way of a disaster, outsiders can see headlines documenting government strikes, inventory worth dips, or acquisition rumors. What’s much less apparent is how distressing these intervals are for the rank-and-file staff.
My colleague Lila MacLellan just lately wrote about Paramount’s tumultuous yr, which included a CEO firing, a high-profile sale, and layoffs that impacted round 2,000 staff—greater than Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. mixed. Staffers have been riveted and terrified by the modifications, with one former worker telling Fortune the yr was “honestly traumatizing, honestly inhumane.”
Paramount has been a Hollywood establishment for many years, however a mix of household possession squabbles, administration missteps, and the disruption of the leisure enterprise all led to a brutal 2024. CEO Bob Bakish, who had a longtime shut relationship with Paramount proprietor Shari Redstone, was abruptly fired within the spring of final yr. He was changed by three CEOs who have been every liable for completely different components of the corporate, and proceeded to conduct mass layoffs, leaving workers fuming.
“There’s nothing redundant about three CEOs at all and yet they’re the ones that are sorting out redundancies,” one other former worker instructed Fortune. “The jokes write themselves, right?”
There’s no excellent technique to lay off staff. However Paramount’s struggles present simply how demoralizing it may be when the workforce is left ready for the ax to drop. That’s precisely what occurred over the summer time, after workers have been instructed there could be job cuts, and left to surprise if they might be those to go.
“We knew that our particular division was going to be impacted,” mentioned one other former Paramount worker. “It was just kind of six weeks of nonstop stress.”
You possibly can learn extra right here about Paramount’s struggles, and its impact on the workforce.
Azure Gilman
azure.gilman@fortune.com
In the present day’s version was curated by Brit Morse.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
