Netflix’s slowing growth and accompany drop in its stock price may be forcing the company to look for ways to cut costs, which could translate into job cuts. Puck’s Mathew Belloni broke news of a wave of layoffs being teed up at Netflix, the first since 2022. The size of the workforce reduction is estimated to be 850 employees, or 5% of the company’s global workforce of 17,000. The price of Netflix shares has fallen by nearly 50% from its peak value 1 ½ years ago in June 2025. These cuts could be announced before the next quarterly earnings call scheduled for October 20th. They will likely be framed by Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters as a prudent step to become “more efficient”.
It is unclear whether the financial savings from this workforce reduction would reverse the negative narrative that has taken hold around Netflix. In an interview last week at Bloomberg’s “Screentime” conference, Sarandos noted that viewer engagement was “not where he wanted it to be”, an acknowledgement of how big this problem has become for the streamer. Sarandos pointed to various growth opportunities the company is pursuing, including live events and theatrical releasing, but so far investor confidence remains muted, which could explain the additional element of cost cuts.
