For employees who have grown accustomed to working from home or following a hybrid schedule, returning to the office five days a week can mean major changes to their daily routines.
And for thousands of workers at the newly merged entertainment giant Skydance, the change will come sooner than expected. The company, formed after Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month, is adopting a mandatory five-day in-office policy across its operations.
Skydance is also offering eligible employees voluntary buyouts, giving some workers who do not want to make the transition an opportunity to leave with severance.
The changes were outlined in an internal email from Skydance CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz on Oct. 26, first shared on X by journalist Scott Nover.
The move comes as Skydance begins integrating thousands of employees across Paramount, Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, CBS, and other businesses while pursuing billions of dollars in cost savings.
Skydance adopts strict 5-day office policy
The new policy expands a requirement already introduced at Paramount to the broader Skydance workforce.
Paramount employees assigned to offices were previously required to work in person five days a week, while Warner Bros. Discovery employees generally followed a three-day office schedule.
In their memo, Ellison and Kreiz defended the policy, arguing that employees working together in person strengthens collaboration, creativity, and the company’s culture.
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“We believe in-person collaboration is vital to our culture and to the success of our business,” the executives wrote.
They acknowledged that the change could disrupt employees’ established routines.
Skydance plans to implement the requirement in phases by location, rather than setting a single companywide start date. Employees will receive advance notice and support from managers during the transition, according to the memo.
The company has not publicly provided a detailed implementation schedule or clarified whether exceptions will be available.
What Skydance employees can expect from the buyout offer
In addition to the office mandate, Skydance is introducing a one-time voluntary buyout program for qualifying employees.
Eligible workers will receive individual communications outlining their severance terms and the deadline for making a decision.
According to an Oct. 26 Business Insider report, which reviewed a separate HR email, the standard package offers two weeks of severance pay for every year of employment at Paramount or Warner Bros. Discovery.
Some employees may receive different packages, depending on their circumstances. Workers who receive an offer must decide whether to accept it by Nov. 8, 2026, at 11 p.m. EST.
The HR communication described the program as voluntary and said that no additional buyout offers are planned. Employees who do not respond by the deadline will be considered to have declined the offer.
Skydance has not disclosed how many employees qualify for the program or how many departures it expects.
Skydance previously saw 600 workers accept buyouts
This is not the first time Skydance has paired stricter attendance requirements with an employee exit program.
Following the 2025 Paramount-Skydance merger, the company announced a phased return-to-office policy beginning in January 2026.
Employees in New York and Los Angeles at the vice-president level and below were offered voluntary severance if they were unwilling or unable to return to full-time work.
Approximately 600 employees accepted the offer, according to Paramount’s November 2025 SEC-filed shareholder letter.
The company separately eliminated approximately 1,000 positions in October 2025 as part of its restructuring.
Now, after acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, Skydance faces another round of workforce integration. In its official merger announcement, the company outlined a goal of generating at least $6 billion in annual run-rate savings within three years.
Executives have said much of the savings will come from areas outside labor, including technology, procurement and real estate, although additional layoffs are also expected.
The merger is already bringing changes for customers. As I previously reported, the combined company plans to eventually bring HBO Max and Paramount+ together as part of its streaming strategy.
Now with the November deadline approaching, Skydance’s latest policy could lead to another wave of employee departures before full workforce integration is complete.
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