Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees, or about 6% of its staff, on Wednesday, as the megastreamer battles slowed growth.
The majority of the cuts are in the product, tech, legal and human-resources teams, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in an email to staff on Wednesday morning obtained by TheWrap.
“Our mission—to entertain the world—is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” they said.
The layoffs were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
As of the end of 2025, Netflix had approximately 16,000 full-time employees. The company’s last major staff reduction was back in 2022, though it laid off a small number of product team employees in February.
Sarandos acknowledged the issues last month in an interview where he admitted, “We’re not growing as fast as I want us to, and we’re working on making that move faster.”
The streamer’s stock has dropped 25% in 2026 as Wall Street fears it’s not growing fast enough. In July, Netflix accounted for 7.8% of TV viewership, compared to YouTube’s 14.2%, per Nielsen’s latest Gauge report.
Netflix stopped revealing subscriber numbers earlier this year and instead switched its metrics to engagement, but the megastreamer has also made the decision to pull back on its twice-yearly data dumps — those reveals, which show view counts for everything on the streamer, will now only be released once a year.
In order to boost growth, Netflix has pushed into areas like podcasts, live events, sports, vertical video and gaming. It also has made efforts to lure YouTube talent to its platform, expanded its content lineup overseas through a partnership with French broadcaster TF1. and is exploring adding live channels and bundles with services such as Peacock.
Netflix is also pushing into the theatrical space in a big way. Awards contender “La Bola Negra” will get the streamer’s first 45-day theatrical window this fall, David Fincher’s “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” will be its first IMAX release in November, and Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” is getting a global theatrical rollout and 45-day theatrical window when it hits theaters in February long before its streaming debut.
The post Netflix Lays Off 1,000 Employees as Company Cuts 6% of Staff appeared first on TheWrap.
