Netflix to eliminate 1,000 jobs worldwide
Netflix has announced that it will eliminate 1,000 jobs globally as the streaming giant contends with competition from rivals.
The reductions — the sharpest since 2022 — will mostly hit its human resources, legal, product and technology teams, and amount to about 6% of its overall workforce.
Last month, Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos told the Bloomberg Screentime summit that the company was "not growing as fast as I want us to".
The streaming sector is in a phase of consolidation after Paramount's $110bn (£83.6bn) merger with Warner Bros, the owner of HBO, while free services such as YouTube and TikTok keep drawing audiences.
In an email to employees, Sarandos and co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix would "continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation".
Netflix had nearly struck its own deal with Warner Bros but was ultimately outbid by Paramount.
Addressing the "organisational changes", Sarandos and Peters said: "Our mission - to entertain the world - is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritise our people and resources."
Managers will inform workers whether their role has been cut "soon".
The email also said the company was on course to meet its financial forecasts. The streaming service is scheduled to release its latest results on 20 October.
Investors have been assessing user engagement - the amount of time customers spend on Netflix - as it competes with platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.
The company has been trying to broaden its business, including gaming and allowing adverts to run before and during shows and films.
However, "they haven't been able to find another line of major revenue," said Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer.
He added that the company still depends on a subscription business that may be nearing a plateau.
"Eventually, because they're nearing a ceiling with that, they'll need another revenue stream to diversify, and that's where it's been more of a struggle," he said.
The last major redundancy round at Netflix was in 2022, when it cut about 450 jobs after losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.