Netflix layoffs are underway, with the streaming company cutting roughly 1,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, according to reports published Wednesday. The bulk of the reductions affect product, technology, legal and human-resources teams.
The reported reductions are concentrated in the teams that build and support the streaming service: product, technology, legal and HR. The reports describe a global reduction of roughly 1,000 positions, not a single-office closure.
“Our mission – to entertain the world – is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” Sarandos and Peters wrote in the memo quoted by Variety.
The cuts follow reports last week that Netflix was preparing a restructuring affecting about 5% of its staff. Wednesday’s reporting puts the actual round at about 6%. Those are different stages of the same developing story, rather than two separate rounds of layoffs.
The biggest round of cuts since 2022
Deadline, the Journal and Business Insider describe this as Netflix’s biggest round of layoffs since 2022. That earlier wave followed the company’s first subscriber losses in more than a decade.
This time, the company is under pressure over slower growth and viewer engagement. Business Insider reports that viewing hours grew 2% in the first half of the year and that the cuts come ahead of Netflix’s third-quarter earnings report on October 20.
The workforce news is separate from Netflix’s individual release announcements. The reports do not establish that a particular show has been canceled or that a customer’s subscription is changing because of these layoffs.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Variety, Business Insider and Deadline. Featured image is an editorial cartoon, not a photograph. See our Editorial Standards.
