CHICAGO: Netflix plans to lay off about 6% of its workforce, amounting to nearly 1,000 positions, as the streaming giant makes wider "organizational changes."
Co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Wednesday. They said the company's product, tech, legal and human resources teams would be the most impacted.
"Decisions like these are never easy, and we don't take them lightly," Peters and Sarandos wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press. They maintained business was strong — but that Netflix needed to be "disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources" as it invests in future growth and "high impact areas to improve our service."
Beyond the memo from its chief executives, Netflix declined to comment further about Wednesday's cuts.
Between membership signups and price increases, Netflix's profit has grown this year. In its second financial quarter, the company earned $3.4 billion and racked up revenue of $12.56 billion — up 9% and 13%, respectively, from the same period last year.
Still, Netflix's forecast for the third quarter fell below Wall Street's expectations. The company plans to report those earnings next week.
Competition in the streaming space is growing more crowded overall. Netflix continues to be a dominant player (accounting for 19% of the market per the latest data from streaming guide JustWatch), but rivals like Amazon's Prime Video and Disney+ are close behind.
HBO Max and Paramount+ are also now under the same roof — Skydance — after Paramount's $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery closed last week. The new Hollywood giant plans to unify its streaming products "into a single service over time." Netflix initially inked a deal to buy Warner's studio and streaming business late last year, but walked away from that offer back in February.
At the end of 2025, per regulatory filings, Netflix had about 16,000 full-time employees worldwide. The layoffs announced Wednesday mark the biggest round of cuts the California-based company has rolled out in years.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday's news of the layoffs.