•Streaming giant Netflix has laid off more than 1,000 employees in its largest round of cutbacks yet, representing roughly 6% of its workforce. The reductions will predominantly affect the company’s product, technology, legal and HR teams.
Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters informed staff via email that “delivering on” the mission “to entertain the world requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” according to a report by WSJ.
“Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full-year forecast. We’ll continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation.”
Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, Netflix co-CEOs
The executives added that the company would make “focused choices across the business so we can keep delivering for our members, partners, employees, and investors.” A Netflix spokesperson told Variety it had no comment beyond the memo.
A Push to Meet Audience Demand
Despite a roster of beloved exclusives, Netflix has faced pressure lately over whether it is keeping pace with audience demand, with some critics accusing it of favoring quantity over quality. To help meet that demand, the company announced a deal with Disney under which it will license select titles from the rival streaming service.
Under the agreement, Netflix will host a mix of legacy and currently streaming Disney+ content for its 325 million subscribers.
The company also recently announced its streaming lineup for October, featuring miniseries such as East of Eden, an installment of Ben Affleck’s Animals anthology, and Josh Hartnett battling a sea beast in Below. On October 20, Netflix will release the second season of its Studio Trigger-produced anime series, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 2.
Gaming Ambitions
Netflix has also sought to expand into gaming to increase time spent on its service. The GTA 6 Extended Look was a Netflix exclusive for the first few hours of its release, and by all accounts it proved popular—breaking 31.1 million views in its first week.
In June, the company released FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition as another entry in its gaming section. But in August, the developer behind Netflix’s soccer game laid off 85% of its staff, after reviewers criticized the title’s controls, graphics and AI.
In March this year, Netflix increased its prices again.
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