Netflix job cuts deepen as 300 more positions axed in US, APAC, EMEA, Lat Am

Global streamer Netflix has axed 300 more positions as it looks to cut costs across its business in response to stalled subscriber growth.

Most of the job losses are in the US, with a smaller number also coming in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Latin America.

Some 216 staff were let go in the US, 30 in Asia-Pacific countries, 53 in EMEA and 17 in Latin America, according to reports. C21 understands that the Canadian office was not affected.

“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees,” said a Netflix representative.

“While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition.”

The latest round of lay-offs comes one month after Netflix cut 150 positions, in addition to other contracted positions.

In the first quarter of this year, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers, marking the first time its membership had declined in more than a decade.

In response, the streamer has said it will introduce an AVoD tier as it looks to grow revenues. It also vowed to crack down on password sharing, estimating that around 100 million households access a Netflix account without paying for it.

Its paid subscriber count now stands at around 221.6 million, though the streamer said in April that it expects to lose a further two million subscribers in the second quarter.

With the latest round of job cuts, Netflix has now axed 450 positions over the past five weeks. In total, the company has around 11,000 employees.

The subscriber losses, and the prospect of more to come, has sent Netflix’s stock price into a tailspin. At the turn of the year, the company was trading at US$597 per share. Today the company is trading at around US$178 per share. At its peak last fall, shares were trading at around US$700.

Last week at the Banff World Media Festival, Netflix’s head of global television Bela Bajaria said the streamer was going “back to the basics” in response to the subs dip. The exec conceded that the previous few months had been “noisy” but said there were no plans for a “radical shift in our business” or a “big transitional phase.”

“The way I look at it, during a noisy period like this is, it really is [about] getting back to the basics. And the basics [for my team of creative executives] is, are you out there meeting good writers, producers and directors? Are we being global? Are we taking chances? Are we still being a great place to work for ourselves and for creators?” she said.