Netflix lays off 150 staff as it continues to respond to subscriber slowdown

Netflix has laid off around 150 staff, most of them based in the US, as it continues to take cost-cutting measures across its business.

Reed Hastings

The cuts, which represent around 1.3% of the total global workforce, come four weeks after the streaming giant reported its first subscriber losses in more than a decade.

“As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So, sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-based,” said a Netflix representative.

“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.”

In the first quarter, Netflix’s overall subscriber count dipped by 200,000 to 221.6 million and the streamer said it expects to lose a further two million subs in the upcoming quarter.

Netflix responded by saying that it will introduce an AVoD tier, reversing years of vehement insistence that advertising was not part of its long-term business plan.

While co-founder, chairman and co-CEO Reed Hastings initially said Netflix would figure out its ad-supported strategy over the “next year or two,” reports suggest the streamer is looking to bring forward its plans and roll out ads before the end the year.

In addition, Netflix has cancelled its big-budget, Steve Carell-led comedy Space Force and scrapped development on an animated series from Meghan Markle’s Archewell Productions. It has also axed a pair of animated kids’ shows, Boons & Curses and Dino Daycare, both of which had already started production, and previously made lay-offs in its marketing department and its editorial brand Tudum.

Its share price has taken several tumbles over the past seven months after riding an all-time high of close to US$700 per share in October. Since then, the company’s share value has dipped to below US$200, its lowest level since 2017.