Netflix Drops The Ax In Biggest Shakeup In Years

Streaming giant Netflix is cutting approximately 1,000 jobs — about 6% of its workforce — in its largest round of layoffs since 2022.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the cuts would primarily affect the company’s product, tech, legal, and human-resources teams.

“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,” co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos wrote in an email to employees. They said the company was “making focused choices across the business so we can keep delivering for our members, partners, employees and investors.”

Peters and Sarandos told employees that Netflix remained on track to meet its full-year forecast and planned to “continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas.”

Earlier this summer, Netflix began exploring possible moves to drive subscriber engagement — from adding live channels and bundling with other streaming services, like NBCUniversal’s Peacock.

The rise of free, ad-supported channels—like Tubi (owned by Fox Corp.) and The Roku Channel—has increased competition for Netflix as its own subscription prices climb. Its standard ad-free plan rose from $13.99 per month in late 2020 to $19.99 in 2026, while its premium plan jumped from $17.99 to $26.99 in the same timeframe.

“Our approach remains the same: We continue offering a range of prices and plans to meet a variety of needs,” the company said in a statement at the time of the most recent price increase in March.

In addition to raising prices, Netflix has also cracked down on account sharing between households. People outside an account holder’s household must have their own account or be added as a paid extra member on an eligible plan.

The layoffs come eight days after Paramount Skydance competed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6. Netflix withdrew from the bidding in February after declining to match Paramount’s higher offer.

The newly merged company now brings together Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, CBS, CNN, HBO, HBO Max, Paramount+, MTV, and TNT.