Netflix will cut about 6% of its employees, or nearly 1,000 people, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters informed staff on Wednesday, October 14. It is the largest headcount reduction at the company since 2022.
Who will be affected
As CNBC reports, which obtained an internal message, the cuts will mainly affect the product, technology, legal and HR teams. In an email to employees, the company’s leaders wrote that Netflix “is strong and growing” and that it remains on track to meet its full-year forecast. They also announced further “aggressive” investment in the areas most important to the growth of the service. Apart from the memo, the company has not commented on the decision.
According to Variety, at the end of 2025 Netflix employed about 16,000 full-time staff, meaning the reduction amounts to roughly a thousand positions. Details, including the breakdown by country, have not been released; the memo said the process will vary depending on the country.
Biggest reduction since 2022
The previous major wave of layoffs took place in 2022. As Variety recalls, Netflix then cut about 450 jobs after its first drop in subscribers in over a decade. Since then, the company has made smaller cuts, including at the start of 2026 in its global product team, where several dozen people lost their jobs.
Slowdown and investor pressure
The decision comes amid slowing growth and weakening viewer engagement. A month ago, Ted Sarandos said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference that the company is “not growing as fast as it would like.” According to Variety, investors are concerned about the decline in engagement per user in the first half of 2026.
The share price is under pressure. Citing the Wall Street Journal, the Polish daily “Rzeczpospolita” writes of a drop in the value of the shares by more than 40% over 12 months. TheWrap, meanwhile, reports that the share price has fallen 25% since the start of 2026. The difference stems from different comparison periods; exact figures are best checked against stock market quotes.
Netflix is trying to boost interest by focusing on live broadcasts, including sports, video podcasts and content from online creators. According to TheWrap, citing Nielsen, in July Netflix had a 7.8% share of US TV viewing, while YouTube had 14.2%. The rate of subscription cancellations, however, remains low: according to Antenna, cited by “Rzeczpospolita”, it is just over 2% in the US.
What next
The layoffs were announced a week before the third-quarter results, scheduled for Tuesday, October 20. That is when investors will see whether the company maintains its forecasts. The cuts should not affect the offer or subscription prices for viewers in Poland for now; the company has not provided information on the impact on its Polish operations. Earlier, we wrote about the addition of Polish classics to the Netflix library.
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