Paramount Global has initiated yet another round of layoffs, this time trimming 3.5% of its U.S. workforce—amounting to several hundred employees—as the legacy media giant continues to grapple with shifting industry economics, collapsing linear revenues, and a streaming future still under construction.

The move comes less than a year after Paramount cut approximately 2,000 jobs in an earlier round of restructuring aimed at reducing costs by $500 million annually. This week’s cuts, announced via a company-wide memo from the company’s three co-CEOs—George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins—arrive as the company awaits FCC approval of its pending merger with Skydance Media, and as it faces ongoing pressure to deliver stability in a deeply uncertain landscape.

“As we navigate the continued industry-wide linear declines and dynamic macro-economic environment, while prioritizing investments in our growing streaming business, we are taking the hard but necessary steps to further streamline our organization,” read the memo. While the majority of cuts are domestic, the executives hinted that international layoffs may follow.

This is the third significant wave of job losses in just over a year for Paramount, which owns CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and Paramount Pictures, among other properties. The company also saw the high-profile exit of CFO Naveen Chopra this week, who will become CFO of Roblox at the end of June.

While streaming continues to grow—Paramount+ reported solid subscriber numbers and performance with hits like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and MobLand—it hasn’t been enough to offset the continued bleed in traditional pay-TV revenues. The memo praises employees’ efforts across divisions and highlights recent content success, but also acknowledges that more foundational changes are needed to ensure long-term viability.

Paramount’s layoffs mirror broader cutbacks across the media sector, with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery also shedding hundreds of positions in 2025 amid industry-wide contraction and restructuring. Paramount’s situation is further complicated by legal distractions, including its recent controversial attempt to settle a $20 billion lawsuit brought by former president Donald Trump—an effort that reportedly triggered executive fallout at 60 Minutes and CBS News.

As the company continues to transform—and potentially merge—industry observers are watching closely. Paramount’s future may depend not just on consolidation, but whether it can reinvent its core structure fast enough to meet the demands of a marketplace where big is no longer synonymous with safe.