Netflix cuts 1,000 jobs as streaming giant seeks to boost engagement

Investing.com -- Netflix is eliminating about 1,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, as the streaming company reassesses staffing priorities while seeking new ways to keep subscribers engaged.

The cuts, the company’s largest since 2022, were announced to employees Wednesday by Co-Chief Executives Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, according to The Wall Street Journal. Most of the reductions will affect product, technology, legal and human resources teams.

“Our mission -- to entertain the world -- is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” the executives wrote in an email to staff, the Journal reported.

Netflix has been broadening its programming mix beyond on-demand films and television, adding live events, sports, video podcasts and content from YouTube creators. It has also pursued programming channels and bundling arrangements with other streaming services as it looks to increase the time users spend on its platform.

The company retains a strong hold on subscribers, with the U.S. cancellation rate at just over 2%, according to Antenna. Yet Netflix shares have lost more than 40% over the past 12 months, putting renewed focus on its ability to sustain growth and deliver on investor expectations.

The workforce reduction comes as other major entertainment and technology companies, including Disney and Amazon, have also cut jobs. Netflix, however, says it will continue to spend on priority areas.

“We will continue to invest aggressively in high impact areas,” Peters and Sarandos wrote, while emphasizing the need to make focused choices across the business, according to the Journal.

Netflix is scheduled to report quarterly results next week. The co-CEOs told employees the company remains on track to meet its full-year earnings forecast.

The company’s previous major layoffs came in June 2022, after it reported its first quarterly subscriber loss in more than a decade.

Original Article

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