Netflix to lay off 1,000 staff in steepest cuts since 2022

ByTom Espiner Business reporter.

Key points

• When it cut regarding 450 jobs after losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, the last major redundancy round at Netflix was in 2022.
• Last month, Netflix 's co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, informed the Bloomberg Screentime summit that the business was "not growing as fast as I want us to".
• Netflix has remarked it will cut 1, 000 jobs globally as the streaming giant faces competition from rivals.
• Netflix had come close to its own accord with Warner Bros but was outbid in the end by Paramount.
• Investors have been weighing up user engagement – the amount of time customers spend on Netflix – as it competes with platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

In practice, the cuts – the steepest since 2022 – will mainly affect its human resources, legal, product and technology teams and equates to around 6% of its total workforce.

While free platforms such as YouTube and TikTok continue to attract viewers, the streaming industry is going through a period of consolidation after Paramount's $110bn (£83.6bn) merger with Warner Bros, the owner of HBO.

In an email to staff, Sarandos and co-chief executive Greg Peters remarked Netflix would "continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation".

Commenting on the "organisational changes", Sarandos and Peters remarked: "Our mission – to entertain the world – is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritise our people and resources." Managers will tell employees whether their job has been cut "shortly".

Meanwhile, the email continued that the firm was on track to meet its financial forecasts. The streaming service is due to report its latest results on 20 October.

Notably, the firm has been attempting to expand its business, including gaming and allowing adverts to play before and during demonstrates and films.

Nevertheless, "they haven't been able to find another line of major revenue, " stated Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer.

He continued that the business remains reliant on a subscription business that could be approaching a plateau.

"Eventually, because they're nearing a ceiling with that, they'll need another revenue stream to diversify, and that's where it's been more of a struggle, " he remarked.

Taken together, the developments around netflix to lay off 1, 000 staff in steepest cuts since 2022 point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.