For hundreds of employees at Paramount Skydance , led by CEO David Ellison, taking a voluntary buyout package evidently was preferable to coming back to the office full-time — or getting involuntarily terminated.

The company, formed by Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global, told employees in early September that all staffers would be expected to work in the office five days a week starting Jan. 5, 2026 . Those who didn’t want to comply with that directive would be able to seek a buyout starting Sept. 15.

In Phase 1 of the return-to-office program, employees in Paramount Skydance’s L.A. and New York offices (at the VP level and below) were offered the option of a voluntary severance package if they are “unable or unwilling to return to the office full time,” Ellison said in a

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