Netflix to shed 1,000 jobs in steepest cuts since 2022

Netflix has said it will cut 1,000 jobs globally as the streaming giant faces competition from rivals.

The cuts – the steepest since 2022 – will mainly affect its human resources, legal, product and technology teams and equates to around 6% of its total workforce.

Last month, Netflix ‘s co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, told the Bloomberg Screentime summit that the company was “not growing as fast as I want us to”.

The streaming industry is going through a period of consolidation following Paramount’s $110bn (£83.6bn) merger with Warner Bros, the owner of HBO, while free platforms such as YouTube and TikTok continue to attract viewers.

In an email to staff, Sarandos and co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix would “continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation”.

Netflix had come close to its own deal with Warner Bros but was outbid in the end by Paramount.

Commenting on the “organisational changes”, Sarandos and Peters said: “Our mission – to entertain the world – is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritise our people and resources.”

Managers will tell employees whether their job has been cut “soon”.

The email added that the firm was on track to meet its financial forecasts. The streaming service is due to report its latest results on 20 October.

Investors have been weighing up user engagement – the amount of time customers spend on Netflix – as it competes with platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

The firm has continued to commission shows – its most popular at the moment is “Below”, an underwater mystery series.

It has also been attempting to expand its business, including gaming and allowing adverts to play before and during shows and films.

However, “they haven’t been able to find another line of major revenue,” said Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer.

He added that the company remains reliant on a subscription business that could be approaching a plateau.

“Eventually, because they’re nearing a ceiling with that, they’ll need another revenue stream to diversify, and that’s where it’s been more of a struggle,” he said.

The last major redundancy round at Netflix was in 2022, when it cut about 450 jobs after losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.

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