Netflix Slashes 1,000 Jobs: Streaming Giant Cuts 6% Workforce

Netflix has announced a substantial reduction in its global workforce, eliminating approximately 1,000 positions, which constitutes 6 percent of its employees. This significant round of layoffs, the largest since 2022, primarily impacts the product, technology, legal, and human resources departments. Co-chief executives Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos communicated these changes to employees, emphasizing the need for disciplined resource allocation to support the company's ambitious mission.

The streaming giant stated that it will continue aggressive investment in high-impact areas while strategically managing resources across its operations. Notably, Netflix confirmed that it is on track to achieve its full-year earnings forecast. This announcement comes roughly one week before the company's next quarterly earnings report, amid ongoing challenges with slower growth and declining viewer engagement.

Netflix has been exploring various avenues to expand viewership, including video podcasts, content from YouTube creators, and live events. The company's recent disclosures indicate strategic partnerships, such as one with French broadcaster TF1, which provides subscribers in France access to linear channels and on-demand content. In the first half of 2026, members collectively watched over 97 billion hours, a 2 percent increase from the previous year, with engagement described as healthy.

These layoffs follow earlier workforce reductions in 2022, where around 150 positions were eliminated in May and an additional 300 in June. Those cuts were a response to the company's first quarterly subscriber decline in over a decade. The current market landscape has seen Netflix shares decrease by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. However, data indicates a US customer cancellation rate of just over 2 percent, which is the lowest among tracked streaming services.