Skydance buyouts at CNN, CBS News spark exodus of veteran staffers including workers bosses wanted to keep: report

David Ellison’s Skydance is losing longtime employees it wanted to keep at CNN and CBS News as its cost-cutting buyouts prompt unexpected departures, according to a report.At CNN, some top managers in the New York bureau have accepted buyouts, while experienced employees in Atlanta and veteran camera operators are also preparing to leave, the Status newsletter reported Tuesday.The departures have alarmed some CNN managers, although other executives are relieved that longtime employees have an opportunity to leave on their own terms, the publication reported.One insider described the CNN departures as a “brain and production drain,” according to Status.The buyout program was announced Oct.26, less than three weeks after Skydance, which was previously known as Paramount Skydance, closed its Warner Bros.

Discovery acquisition.The newly merged company is targeting at least $6 billion in annual cost savings from the mega-merger within three years.Managers cannot privately steer employees away from accepting buyouts, according to Status.CNN has not offered buyouts since 2019, leaving many longtime employees waiting for an opportunity to depart with a severance package, according to Status.“The results were in line with CNN’s expectations for the buyout program, the first offered to staff since 2019.

Many managers were relieved that employees had the opportunity to leave on their own terms,” a source close to the situation told The Post.The number of top managers accepting buyouts on CNN’s team responsible for breaking news coverage out of New York City was low, according to the source.At CNN, most eligible workers can receive three weeks of pay for each year of service, up to a maximum of two years’ salary, Status reported.CNN employees must have been on the job at least 15 years and hold a title no higher than vice president to meet the program’s tenure and rank requirements, according to the report.Under the standard formula, 15 years of service wou...