By Brian Steinberg

Paramount Global will cut costs by $500 million by the end of the year and aims to complete most of it by the end of September, according to a memo from the company's management issued Tuesday.

The budget cuts have been in the works for weeks, with Paramount executives indicating during an investor call last week that the company would incur as much as $300 million to $400 million in costs related to layoffs, which would come primarily from its marketing and communications teams, along with other departments. The company expects to cut about 2,000 positions. Paramount last week wrote down the value of its cable networks, which include MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, by nearly $6 billion

“As we continue to execute on our plan, we announced on our earnings call last week that we will reduce our U.S. workforce by approximately 15%, focusing on redundant roles and streamlining corporate teams,” said the memo from George Cheeks, Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, the co-CEOs who have led Paramount since it ousted Bob Bakish. They added: “This process will occur in three phases, beginning today and continuing through the end of the year. We expect 90% of these actions to be completed by the end of September.”