Paramount president Jeff Shell said upcoming job cuts at the newly-formed media giant will be “painful” – but they will also be quick.

The former NBC Universal executive, who was tapped by David Ellison to be his top lieutenant after Paramount’s long stalled $8.4 billion merger with Skydance finally closed last week, expects $2 billion in cuts in one fell swoop.

“We do not want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter,” Shell said Wednesday in Los Angeles, citing constant waves of cuts under Paramount’s previous leadership. 3

“So, it’s going to be painful. It’s always hard, but we don’t want to be a company that every quarter is laying people off. It is important for us to get done what we’re doing in one big thing and then be done with it.”

Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Sk

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