Netflix Cuts 1,000 Jobs, 6% of Staff, in Largest Layoff Round Yet

By Elena Vasquez

Netflix is laying off roughly 1,000 employees, about 6% of its workforce, in the company's largest round of cutbacks to date. Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters announced the decision in a Wednesday morning email to staff, a copy of which was obtained by Variety.

The cuts fall hardest on four departments: product, technology, legal and HR. Netflix employed about 16,000 full-time workers at the end of 2025. Six percent translates to roughly one job in sixteen across the company. A Netflix spokesperson said the company had no comment beyond the memo.

"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," Sarandos and Peters wrote.

Why is Netflix cutting jobs while profits grow?

The numbers point to a paradox. Netflix, the industry's largest premium streaming provider with more than 325 million customers globally, posted $45.2 billion in revenue in 2025, up 16%, and net income of $11 billion, up 26%. For 2026, the company projects revenue of $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion, an increase of 13% to 14%, with an operating margin of 31.5% against 29.5% in 2024.

Investors, however, have flagged slowing engagement on a per-user basis in the first half of 2026. Netflix also issued third-quarter revenue guidance below analyst expectations, which drove the stock down.

"Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full-year forecast," the co-CEOs said in the memo. They added: "We'll continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation. Doing that means making focused choices across the business so we can keep delivering for our members, partners, employees, and investors."

In plain terms: a profitable, growing company is shedding staff to redirect money toward what it calls high-impact areas.

How does this compare with past Netflix layoffs?

The last major round came in 2022, when Netflix cut about 450 staffers after losing 200,000 net subscribers in the first quarter — its first such decline in more than a decade. That works out to less than half the scale of this week's cuts.

Smaller reductions followed, including several dozen members of the global product team let go earlier in 2026. The current round dwarfs them all at roughly 1,000 positions.

What happens to the departing employees?

The memo addresses the departing staff directly. "Our top priority today is to support those who are leaving Netflix," the co-CEOs wrote, noting that the process will vary by country and that leaders will contact affected employees soon. "If you are leaving, please know that we will support you throughout this transition and make sure you have as much clarity and context as possible."

The message closes on a forward note: "This is one of the most dynamic times in the history of entertainment — and it's a moment perfectly suited to a company like ours that's built at the intersection of technology and entertainment."

What comes next?

Netflix reports third-quarter 2026 earnings on Tuesday, Oct. 20, after market close. Second-quarter results met Wall Street forecasts, with revenue up 13.4% year over year to $12.6 billion and operating margin of 33.4%, down from 34.1% a year earlier. The October report will show whether the growth forecast — and the logic behind the layoffs — holds.