According to media reports, Netflix is cutting off roughly 150 people across the organisation. The job losses affect less than 2% of the streamer’s 11,000 employees, with the majority of the cuts occurring in the United States.

“As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company,” a representative from the company told news outlet CNBC.

“So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-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”.

Netflix’s announcement that it lost 200,000 members in the first quarter added to the industry’s woes, but leading tech analyst Mark Mahaney says the sector’s current instability presents multiple chances for investors.

Netflix’s announcement that it lost 200,000 members in the first quarter added to the industry’s woes, but leading tech analyst Mark Mahaney says the sector’s current instability presents multiple chances for investors.

The layoffs come less than a month after Netflix announced its first subscriber loss in a decade and predicted further losses in the coming quarter. Since January, the company’s stock has dropped by over 70 per cent.

After years of rejecting commercials on the platform, co-CEO Reed Hastings indicated during the company’s earnings call last month that the company is looking into lower-priced, ad-supported tiers in order to attract new members.

Netflix is also striving to combat widespread password sharing, saying that account sharing has resulted in the addition of more than 100 million households to its 222 million paid subscribers.

While Netflix’s layoffs are linked to a drop in customers, they are part of a bigger job reduction in the internet industry. Several big giants, including Facebook parent company Meta, Amazon, Uber, and Robinhood, have lately announced hiring freezes and layoffs.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)