Skydance – the newly formed corporate megazord combining Warner Bros and Paramount – has issued a full five-day return-to-office mandate to employees, and offered voluntary buyouts as the merging of the companies begins.
The company was formed earlier this month following a much-debated $110bn Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros., in which both companies were squished together to be led by a refreshed board, which includes former UK prime minister Tony Blair (in an advisory role), philanthropist Laurene Powell, and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.
In an internal email seen by Vertical Slice, CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz told employees that in-person collaboration is “vital” for the company going forward.
“Especially in a creative company like ours, the best ideas come from people in the same room, sharing perspectives, challenging one another and solving problems,” the email read. “Being together isn’t just about showing up. It’s about inspiring one another, learning and coaching, forming friendships and having access to the casual conversations that spark something great.
“With that in mind, we will adopt a five-day in-office policy across all of Skydance. We truly believe this is in the best interest of our company and our people. We’ve seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them.”
The voluntary buyouts, meanwhile – which for those who don’t know is an opportunity for employees to leave the company with a severance package – were described as a “one time offer”, though it was not clear which teams within Skydance are eligible to accept it.
Skydance now includes the gaming studios once under Paramount and Warner Bros. This includes the game studios Netherrealm (Mortal Kombat), Portkey Games (Hogwarts Legacy), Avalanche Software (not to be confused with Avalanche Studios), Paramount Games Studios, and various other WB studios. It is unclear whether developers at these studios have been offered the voluntary buyout, nor when their employees will have to return to the office.
Skydance is not the only company to have offered voluntary buyouts recently. This week Microsoft offered 60,000 of its employees the same deal – that’s roughly 25 percent of its staff – amid sweeping Xbox layoffs and its big AI push. Last year, EA also introduced a return-to-office policy to its employees, with its CEO saying in-person work creates “a kinetic energy that fuels creativity.”
