Netflix to Lay Off 2% of US Workforce

By Adam Barnhardt

As Netflix stock continues to plummet, the company announced Tuesday it will be laying off approximately 150 employees across various segments of the company. That's roughly two-percent of the streamer's entire workforce here in the United States. According to a statement released by the company, the decision is a result of "business needs" rather than the performance of individual employees.

"As we explained [in reporting Q1] earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company," one Netflix spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Variety. "So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly U.S.-based. These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We're working hard to support them through this very difficult transition."

150 full-time positions are being eliminated by the company, as are 70 part-time jobs in the streamer's animation sector. An indeterminate number of contract and freelance positions are being slashed as well.

"A number of agency contractors have also been impacted by the news announced this morning," the statement added. "We are grateful for their contributions to Netflix."

Earlier this year, Netflix reported its a net loss of roughly 200,000 subscribers, its first loss in an a decade. At the time, the company revealed to investors it projects an addition two million subscribers will be dropped over the course of its second quarter. Shortly after those numbers were revealed, the company largely placed the blame of reduced subscriptions to the sharing of account passwords across households.

"This is a big opportunity as these households are already watching Netflix and enjoying our service," the streamer wrote in its letter. "Sharing likely helped fuel our growth by getting more people using and enjoying Netflix. And we've always tried to make sharing within a member's household easy, with features like profiles and multiple streams. While these have been very popular, they've created confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared with other households."

Though measures to stop password sharing have been tested, no feature has been rolled out to all users.

Trending Now: