Netflix Reportedly Readies First Major Layoffs Since 2022, Cutting 5% Of Staff With Shares Down 42% In A Year
Continued wokeness does not seem to be working out well for Netflix, which is planning to cut about 5% of its workforce, with an announcement expected as early as next week, Puck News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company had about 16,000 full-time employees at the end of last year, so a 5% cut would mean roughly 800 jobs. It is not yet clear which departments would be hit, TheWrap reported. Netflix's last major round of layoffs came in 2022, when it cut hundreds of jobs amid slowing growth and subscriber losses, per Reuters; it also laid off a small number of product team employees in February, TheWrap noted.
The reported cuts follow a rough stretch for the stock. Shares were trading at $70.96 Friday morning, down 42% over the past year, 22% year to date and 30% over six months, according to TheWrap.
Last month, HSBC and Wells Fargo both downgraded Netflix over engagement - with HSBC's Mohammed Khallouf moving the stock to Hold from Buy and cut his price target to $76 from $96, citing YouTube's growing living-room presence and Netflix's falling share of U.S. TV time. Wells Fargo's Steve Cahall cut his rating to Underweight from Equal Weight and his target to $57 from $80, citing "worrying" engagement trends.
Nielsen's July Gauge put Netflix at 7.8% of U.S. TV viewing against YouTube's 14.2%, TheWrap said. Reuters said the company is navigating a more competitive streaming market as media companies consolidate and YouTube takes a growing share of viewership and advertising spending.
Netflix has been pushing beyond subscriptions into advertising, live programming and gaming. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at Bloomberg's Screentime conference that Netflix is "not growing as fast as I want us to." The company agreed in December to an $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets but dropped out after declining to match Paramount Skydance's $110 billion offer, a deal Paramount closed Tuesday, according to TheWrap.
Tyler Durden Mon, 10/12/2026 - 08:30
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[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
Continued wokeness does not seem to be working out well for Netflix, which is planning to cut about 5% of its workforce, with an announcement expected as early as next week, Puck News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company had about 16,000 full-time employees at the end of last year, so a 5% cut would mean roughly 800 jobs. It is not yet clear which departments would be hit, TheWrap reported. Netflix's last major round of layoffs came in 2022, when it cut hundreds of jobs amid slowing growth and subscriber losses, per Reuters; it also laid off a small number of product team employees in February, TheWrap noted.
The reported cuts follow a rough stretch for the stock. Shares were trading at $70.96 Friday morning, down 42% over the past year, 22% year to date and 30% over six months, according to TheWrap.
Last month, HSBC and Wells Fargo both downgraded Netflix over engagement - with HSBC's Mohammed Khallouf moving the stock to Hold from Buy and cut his price target to $76 from $96, citing YouTube's growing living-room presence and Netflix's falling share of U.S. TV time. Wells Fargo's Steve Cahall cut his rating to Underweight from Equal Weight and his target to $57 from $80, citing "worrying" engagement trends.
Nielsen's July Gauge put Netflix at 7.8% of U.S. TV viewing against YouTube's 14.2%, TheWrap said. Reuters said the company is navigating a more competitive streaming market as media companies consolidate and YouTube takes a growing share of viewership and advertising spending.
Netflix has been pushing beyond subscriptions into advertising, live programming and gaming. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at Bloomberg's Screentime conference that Netflix is "not growing as fast as I want us to." The company agreed in December to an $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets but dropped out after declining to match Paramount Skydance's $110 billion offer, a deal Paramount closed Tuesday, according to TheWrap.
Tyler Durden Mon, 10/12/2026 - 08:30
Continue reading...
[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
