by Thinus Ferreira
Netflix is axing roughly 1 000 workers around the world - about 6% of its total staff worldwide - in its largest retrenchment to date as the streamer's growth has slowed.
Netflix has around 16 000 workers worldwide and is the video streaming service's largest round of retrenchments yet.
It comes after Netflix backed off from its attempt to acquire Warner Bros/ Discovery earlier this year, which has now been swallowed by Paramount Global, under the new company Skydance.
Netflix remains the largest video streaming service in the world.
Netflix is slashing workers in its so-called "product, tech, legal, HR and human resources" divisions.
Netflix has no comment about its retrenchments.
In an internal memo sent to staff, co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos told Netflix staffers, "Decisions like these are never easy, and we don't take them lightly. 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".
"We know changes like this are tough, but let's stay focused. 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. Now it's on us to step up and meet the moment, together, like we always do."
They noted that "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."
Last month Ted Sarandos said that Netflix "is not growing as fast as I want us to and we're working on making that move faster."
Below is their memo in full:
We wanted to share that we are making a number of organizational changes and, as a result, we’ll be letting go of roughly 6% of our colleagues, with the greatest impact to our product, tech, legal, and HR teams.
Decisions like these are never easy, and we don’t take them lightly. Our top priority today is to support those who are leaving Netflix. The process will vary somewhat by country, but leaders will be connecting with impacted employees soon.
Decisions like these are never easy, and we don’t take them lightly. Our top priority today is to support those who are leaving Netflix. The process will vary somewhat by country, but leaders will be connecting with impacted 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. We also want to say thank you. What you’ve built, and the care you brought to Netflix, have made a lasting difference and we will always be grateful.
For the rest of the team, we know you have questions, too.
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.
Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full-year forecast. 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.
We know changes like this are tough, but let’s stay focused. 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.
We know changes like this are tough, but let’s stay focused. 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.
Now it’s on us to step up and meet the moment, together, like we always do.
Ted and Greg
Ted and Greg
