Netflix has fired about 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs occurred in the U.S., according to Variety, and several departments were affected.
“Today, unfortunately, we let go of about 300 employees,” a Netflix spokesman said in the post. “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs grow in line with our slower revenue growth. We are very grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and we are working hard to give them support in this difficult transition “.
This is Netflix’s second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, in May. The company has about 11,000 employees worldwide.
Netflix also dropped a dozen workers from its marketing department and its internal news site, Tudum, in April. These particular layoffs were due to a reorganization of the Netflix marketing team. These were said to be normal business decisions and were not directly related to cost reductions.
Recent layoffs follow a sharp drop in Netflix’s share price, which has fallen by about 70 percent since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the number of subscribers to the company fell for the first time. It fell by 200,000, largely because Netflix withdrew from Russia and lost 700,000 subscribers. In its latest earnings report, Netflix said it also expects to lose up to 2 million subscribers in the current quarter.
Along with cost reduction, Netflix is looking for more ways to generate revenue. These include plans with advertising and additional fees for those who share their accounts with people living in other households.
The company is hiring on other fronts and still plans to invest heavily in content, however. This year it has earmarked about $ 17 billion for this purpose. The news of the layoffs comes the week after Netflix announced a reality competition series based on its total conquest drama, Squid Game. The winner will take home $ 4.56 million.
Update 23/6 16:30 ET: clarifying some details about the layoffs in April.
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