Netflix Lays Off Estimated 150 Staffers in New Round of Cuts

J. Clara Chan
·2 min read
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Netflix is laying off approximately 150 employees across the company, according to an internal memo sent Tuesday and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

The layoffs represent 2 percent of the streamer’s total workforce, with most of the cuts happening in the United States. Netflix is also making changes to its animation division, resulting in the elimination of 70 roles in that unit, as well as reducing contractor roles in its social media and publishing channels.

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Impacted employees are expected to receive severance packages starting at four months, though that time period could increase depending on the staffer’s position and how long they have been with the company.

“As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company,” a Netflix spokesperson stated. “So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly U.S.-based. These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We’re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition.”

The new round of cuts comes less than a month after multiple full-time staff and contractors in Netflix’s editorial and marketing division were laid off.

In April, during its first-quarter earnings announcement, Netflix revealed it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the quarter and expected to lose an additional 2 million during the second quarter. As a result of the declining growth, Netflix is planning to launch a cheaper, ad-supported tier and will begin “pulling back” its spending to maintain its margins, though the streamer is still expected to spend $17 billion on content.

“We’re pulling back on some of our spend growth across both content and non-content spend,” CFO Spencer Neumann said last month during the earnings call. “We’re trying to be smart about it and prudent in terms of pulling back on some of that spend growth to reflect the realities of the revenue growth of the business.”

Last week, Netflix also released an updated companywide culture memo to include, among other changes, a directive for employees to “spend our members’ money wisely.” Though executives have used similar phrasing before, the inclusion of that line in the culture memo is a marked change for a company once known for its lavish spending.

After Netflix’s disappointing quarterly disclosure and subsequent stock slide, the company’s long-held trust with some employees has been punctured. “This feels like they really lost control of the narrative,” a Netflix insider told THR. “Now, everything is leaking and that’s why they feel like they need to do this [send the memo], because the trust has been eroded.”

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