Netflix Lays off Around 1,000 Employees in the Biggest Job Cuts in Its History

For more than a decade, Netflix stood as the undisputed leader of the streaming world, driving traditional Hollywood studios into an arms race that spawned more than 200 rival services. But even the industry’s biggest player hasn’t been immune to growing pressure, and the latest Netflix layoffs show just how much the landscape has shifted.

Subscriber growth and viewer engagement have steadily slowed, and Wall Street analysts have issued multiple stock downgrades for the company. Investors have been particularly concerned that engagement on a per-user basis slowed during the first half of 2026, with NBC News reporting that viewing hours grew just 2% over that period.

Now the streamer is making a dramatic move. Netflix is laying off around 1,000 employees, representing 6% of its workforce, in what Variety called the company’s biggest layoff to date.

Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters informed staff in an email on Wednesday morning. Most of the cuts will affect workers on Netflix’s product, technology, legal, and HR teams.

In their message, Sarandos and Peters framed the decision as part of being disciplined about how the company allocates its people and resources in pursuit of its mission to entertain the world. They stressed that Netflix would keep investing aggressively in high-impact areas to improve its service and drive growth.

At the same time, the executives said that doing so requires making focused choices across the business. They also indicated the company remains on track to meet its earnings forecast.

The scale of the cuts appears larger than earlier reports suggested. Netflix had previously been reported to be planning a reduction of roughly 5% of its global headcount, which would have affected around 800 workers.

As of the end of 2025, the company had about 16,000 full-time employees. The final figure of around 1,000 jobs pushes the layoffs past those initial estimates. The announcement comes just one week before Netflix is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings. That timing has drawn attention from investors watching closely for signs of how the company plans to reignite growth.

It also follows comments Sarandos made about a month ago at a Bloomberg event, where he acknowledged the company wasn’t growing as quickly as he would like. The layoffs suggest Netflix is moving to tighten its operations in response.

This marks the company’s most significant job reduction since 2022. That year, Netflix cut about 450 staffers after reporting a net decline of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter, its first such drop in more than a decade.

Earlier in that same stretch, the streamer laid off about 150 employees, mostly in the U.S., citing slowing revenue growth. The current cuts are more than double the size of that entire 2022 round.

News of the layoffs quickly sparked conversation online. Some social media users pointed out the contrast between job cuts and the company’s repeated subscription price increases, while noting that content spending appeared untouched.

Within the industry, the move adds to a broader wave of belt-tightening across entertainment companies. For many observers, it signals that even the streaming leader is entering a more cautious era.

All eyes now turn to Netflix’s upcoming earnings report, which could offer more clarity on how the company plans to address slowing engagement. Whether these cuts help Netflix return to stronger growth remains to be seen.

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