A potential merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., spearheaded by David Ellison, is raising concerns about significant job losses, particularly within Los Angeles County.

A recent report from the Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity estimates that nearly 2,500 jobs in the Greater Los Angeles area could be impacted if the $111 billion deal proceeds.

The report, delivered to the County's board of supervisors on June 18, highlights that these job risks are mainly in corporate, technology, real estate, and other shared functions where roles might become redundant across the two companies.

Globally, the proposed merger could affect approximately 6,000 positions.

This development comes as the entertainment industry in Los Angeles is already facing challenges, including declining film and TV shoots and the impact on ancillary businesses.

Local officials have expressed concerns, with town halls addressing the potential deal and activist groups protesting the merger.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is reportedly preparing a legal challenge, coordinating with multiple states, despite the Justice Department's reported approval for Ellison's bid.

The Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity's analysis provides a detailed look at the workforce distribution of both companies in the region.

It states that 13% of Warner Bros.

Discovery's workforce and 17% of Paramount's workforce are based in greater Los Angeles.

A significant portion of these employees work in the studios sector, spread across Paramount's 65-acre lot and Warner Bros.' approximately 140 acres of owned property.

In response to the County's assessment, a Paramount spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the report "underscores the multiple ways in which the status quo continues to fail Los Angeles’ entertainment economy: reduced output, declining linear television revenues, and competing incentives from other jurisdictions have left consumers and creatives subject to the whims of the dominant technology and streaming platforms that rule Hollywood today."

The potential job reductions are part of an estimated $6 billion in synergies that Ellison's team anticipates from combining the corporate, administrative, tech, and resource functions of Paramount and Warner Bros.