Netflix Lays Off Another 300 Employees

Netflix is laying off about 300 employees, following a round of about 150 layoffs in mid May.

The layoffs go across the company, which had about 11,000 employees as of May.

The layoffs are one way that the company is attempting to reduce costs in the wake of having reported its first subscriber loss in a decade in this year’s first quarter. Netflix stock is down 70% year-to-date.  

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

Netflix spent more than $17 billion on originals and licensing in its 2021 fiscal year, and during its Q1 investor call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said it will continue to increase content spend, though at a reduced pace.

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“I think we’ve got to continue to invest in the content, both in the quality and the variety,” he said. “And we will continue to grow the content spend relative to prior years.”

Netflix is now up against other major players able and willing to spend even more on content — including Disney, which plans to spend $33 billion in its fiscal 2022, and Warner Bros., now Warner Bros. Discovery, which has been spending $23 billion per year (although the new management has vowed to tie spending closely to return on investment).

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