Oct 27 (Reuters) - Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) will

begin a major round of layoffs with about 1,000 job cuts on

Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on

Monday.

The job cuts, which follow the $8.4 billion merger

between Skydance Media and Paramount Global, would impact

roughly 5% of Paramount's employees based on its workforce prior

to the completion of the deal.

As of December 2024, Paramount had nearly 18,600 full-

and part-time employees, and 3,500 project-based staff.

The move comes after Reuters

reported

Warner Bros Discovery's ( WBD ) board rejected a nearly $60

billion offer from Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ), with analysts still

pinning

the David Ellison-led firm as the bidder most likely to

succeed.

Bloomberg first reported details of the layoffs earlier

on Monday.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Arsheeya Bajwa;

Editing by Anil D'Silva)