Netflix is cutting 150 jobs as the streaming company seeks to cut costs after revealing it expects to lose millions of subscribers in the first half of the year.
The much-anticipated layoffs are mostly focused on its operations in the United States, affecting employees in its extensive film and television departments.
Netflix’s market value fell by nearly $ 60 billion this month as investors panicked that the decade-long boom in the streaming sector was over after the company reported its first loss of subscribers in 10 years.
As of December, Netflix had about 11,300 full-time employees, which means layoffs represent 1.3% of the global workforce. Last month, it laid off about 25 employees in marketing jobs, including contractors who have been there for less than a year.
Netflix, which plans to focus on a “less is more” strategy than fewer but higher quality orders for series and movies, is estimated to spend $ 17 billion on content creation and licensing this year. The company said it expects to cut its budgets.
“As we explained about profits, our slowing revenue growth means we also need to slow our cost growth as a company,” a Netflix spokesman said. “Unfortunately, today we are releasing about 150 employees, mostly based in the United States.
“These changes are driven mainly by business needs, not individual performance.… A number of agency performers were also affected by the news announced this morning.”
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The company blamed the delay on a number of factors, including the suspension of the Russian operation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It intends to start fighting widespread password sharing among its 221 million subscribers worldwide.
Netflix, which is testing a small surcharge in several Latin American markets to allow households to share their subscription, estimates that its service is shared for free with 100 million additional homes worldwide.
The company also intends to launch a cheaper, ad-supported level this year to try to resume subscriber growth.
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