Thread regarding Paramount Global layoffs

accept what you can't change, have the courage to change what you can, seek wisdom to know the difference.

I was a "lifer" (almost thirty years) who was severed September 2024, and all the wind had left my sails in the turmoil throughout the year or so previous to that. In all my time there, there had never been a worse problem with either leadership (including the Dauman fiasco) or morale (including after the Freston firing).

It was still an emotional blow when it happened, but I had been expecting it and had already mapped out some personal projects I wanted to pursue in order to cleanse my palat.

After just a couple of weeks, I found that I was sleeping better, getting up earlier, laughing more, feeling more spry, and had lots of creative energy that I was excited to put to use.

In short, I felt about ten years younger -- which made me realize that this wreck of a company had been making me feel ten years OLDER.

The financial concerns that I face now now come nowhere near the stresses of being inside the ever-worsening toxic behemoth. My brain is in a far better place now.

I was let go in August of 2024. In the beginning it ebbed and flowed between relief that living in anxiety at work was over and the frustration and despair of dealing with a terrible job market (almost 800 rejections and nearly a yearlong search). One thing that I wish I had done was make more of an effort to appreciate (at the time) the extra time that I had with my family and see the silver lining. I got to watch my baby grow as a full-time parent and see their first steps, which otherwise wouldn't have happened, and I'm grateful for that. I started my own business that I wouldn't have had the courage to otherwise do and that I will continue during on the side during full time employment. I got to really take in my city and experience things that I would never have had the time for. At the end of the day, the constant rejection and uncertainty about my future were bringing me down, but the time itself was not nearly as bad as I felt it was.

I eventually did get a new W2 job, and I am so much happier where I am now than at Para. I didn't realize how mentally taxing it was to work at a place with 0 appreciation for my contributions and operating under the spectre of constant layoffs. I genuinely believe that the people who ran Para while I was there were mo--ns, and it unfortunately doesn't seem to me like that's changed with new management. That said, yes, it will be a major bummer, but try to use the time you get out of this to enjoy life while you search for new employment. At the end of the day, they did you a favor by laying you off because now you don't have to deal with their BS anymore. You will find a new job and you will get past this. Don't be afraid to leverage your network and reach out to folks on LinkedIn for referrals to jobs at places they work - that's ultimately what got me my current role. I wish you all the best.

Yes, I left earlier this year because I had found another job and wow, I hadn’t even realized Paramount was toxic until I had left. I was immediately picked up somewhere else that commented on my positive energy and enthusiasm and I just blinked and was like "where was that while I was here?" I had always had positive, upbeat, expressive energy with the exception of my stint here. (I didn't even feel I could physically move freely here, hard to explain) I also had realized I was being micromanaged and I broke down the unhealthy mechanics of my workplace with ChatGPT and that was very helpful and enlightening and helped with healing. It took some months to heal and process the pain of how much I had to shrink to fit the confines of my team and honestly it felt empty when I left, like I had gotten nothing out of this job (I had poured but was not poured into). My new job is amazing and everything that I wanted and gives me so much space to expand and grow and nobody is threatened by me. I am happier than ever before, feel excited about the future, and the difference in mental health cannot be quantified (300% better?).

Tips on moving on:

• Use ChatGPT for analysis of any unhealthy dynamics and interactions of workplace. Really helps with processing and understanding.
• Process however you do (journal, therapy, feel and release emotions)
• Go back to this thread and "see what you are missing."
• Follow Deadline for news of new reign to "see what you are missing"
• See things clearly, both the good and the bad. I spent months ragging on this place but now I am ending this reflection chapter with gratitude for all the awesome things I did gain from it, which was mainly industry experience
• Eventually stop reading this thread (my next step)

Tips for adjusting elsewhere:

• If you have a new job, do all the things you were too repressed to do at Paramount and do them furiously for a bit to overcompensate (ie. Speaking with conviction, delivering innovation, standout fashion sense, whatever it is for you) This will feel like you can fully breathe and expand. Put together a post-Paramount glow up list. Be mindful not to project the past fear-based environment and thinking onto your new colleagues. That took a couple of months for me.
• If not employed, just enjoy the space and freedom of not having to live under the constant axe. It does take a toll on you after years. Seeing the news of the layoff being split into 2, I was emotionally affected and I am not even here anymore. You will be more relaxed, happy, regulated, and optimistic. Let your nervous system live in the normal world where there are not 3 layoffs every year. Also write down a list of things you want from your new job, the feelings you want to feel, the type of work you want to do, the type of ppl you want to work with. Go ahead and dream! That's how I was able to bring in this new one.

Hope this helps. Sending positive energy to you (now that I have it again)

@ac Although I am still here, I couldn't agree more. AMEN!

Those of us left are just collecting a check. period.

I quit a few years ago. My soul has been noticeably lighter since, it improved my life in every possible aspect.

Anyone who got let go today is way better off, and will eventually realize this and be glad. Folks left behind are going to have a harder time in the longer run, it’s just delaying the inevitable at this point.

Frankly, yes. Just knowing that in a few short weeks, I will not have to interact with a certain cabal of sr. "leaders" who hung around collecting checks well passed their usefulness and who pushed out young, interesting and hardworking talent due to their complete ineptitude.

Or that I no longer have to sit in meetings with insufferable duplicative teams across "linear, streaming and digital".... passively aggressively fighting over fiefdoms or having to take "feedback" from creepy SVP do-nothing weirdos makes me feel a bit better.

I feel sorry and sad for the people impacted by poor leadership and EVP's who were more keen in "protecting their turf" and promoting their babysitters than building a healthy organization.

I don't expect smooth sailing or even making it through the next year. But i feel better that I at least have a chance to go impactful work.

Yes