ViacomCBS slashes up to 400 jobs as part of merger restructuring: source

By Arriana McLymore

NEW YORK (Reuters) – ViacomCBS Inc is cutting up to 400 employees across CBS as part of its plan to save $750 million from its merger with CBS, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Digital and local media companies including Atlantic Media, Vice Media, Gannett Co Inc and Tribune Publishing Co have slashed jobs since the start of the coronavirus pandemic due to drops in ad revenues adding to an declining industry which has seen employment drop by 23% between 2008 and 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.

ViacomCBS eliminated about 500 jobs since the closing its merger in December.

“We are restructuring various operations at CBS as part our ongoing integration with Viacom, and to adapt to changes in our business, including those related to COVID-19,” a CBS spokesman said in a statement.

ViacomCBS’s layoffs, which were first reported by Deadline, include a number of executives from the entertainment group and news divisions.

(Reporting by Arriana McLymore and Kenneth Li; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)