Netflix is laying off nearly 1,000 employees in its largest round of job cuts in years as the streaming giant reorganizes its business — despite making billions of dollars.
Historic Job Cuts
The company’s co-CEOs, Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, announced the cuts in a memo to employees on Oct. 14, saying the changes would affect about 6 percent of Netflix’s workforce. Product, technology, legal, and human resources teams are expected to take the biggest hit.
“Decisions like these are never easy, and we don’t take them lightly,” Peters and Sarandos wrote in the memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The company also fired chief content officer Bela Bajaria.
The layoffs come despite the company’s continued profitability. Netflix reported $3.4 billion in profit and $12.56 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2026, increases of 9 percent and 13 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year, Variety reported.
However, the company’s outlook for the third quarter fell short of Wall Street expectations, raising concerns about whether Netflix can sustain its recent growth.
The streaming service faces growing competition from Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and other platforms. YouTube and TikTok are also competing for viewers’ attention, making it more challenging for subscription-based services to keep audiences engaged. And there has been slowing growth in the United States and Canada.
The company has been exploring additional revenue sources, including advertising and gaming, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on subscriptions. However, subscriptions remain central to its business.
The layoffs also come during a period of consolidation across Hollywood. Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has brought HBO Max and Paramount+ under the same corporate umbrella, with plans to eventually combine their streaming offerings.
Netflix had previously pursued a deal to acquire Warner Bros’ studio and streaming businesses but withdrew its offer earlier this year.
The company had approximately 16,000 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings. The latest cuts mark its most significant workforce reduction since 2022, when Netflix eliminated hundreds of jobs following a subscriber decline.
Netflix is scheduled to report its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 20.
