Netflix layoffs: Around 1,000 employees to lose their jobs

Jerusalem Post / Business & Innovation / All News To tackle the lack of mega-hits and competition from the big screen, the company will expand its operations into sports broadcasting and begin releasing movies in theaters. Follow us on Google Netflix. (photo credit: GettyImages ) By WALLA!

MONEY OCTOBER 14, 2026 20:15 Streaming giant Netflix is cutting about 1,000 jobs – the company's largest round of layoffs in the past 4 years. As a result of the move, the cuts, which make up about 6% of the company's global workforce, will mainly affect employees in the product, technology, legal, and human resources divisions.

The dramatic move comes as the streaming giant struggles with a drop in its stock price and growing pressure to increase user engagement on the platform. In an internal memo sent to employees, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters clarified that the company needs to show greater discipline.

The two wrote to their staff that the company's mission to capture the world's attention and provide it with entertainment is ambitious, and to achieve it, the company must be disciplined in the way it prioritizes its people and resources. The current cuts come against the backdrop of growing question marks among investors regarding Netflix's ability to maintain the rapid growth pace it showed in the past.

The company's stock has plummeted by more than 40% over the past year due to concerns over a slowdown in user engagement. At the same time, Netflix's failed attempt to acquire Warner Bros Discovery has sparked growing concern that it does not possess enough strong and independent content of its own.

Sarandos himself acknowledged these challenges at a Bloomberg conference last month, when he said that the company is not growing at the desired pace from his perspective, and that efforts are being made to accelerate the pace. To cope with the situation and get subscribers to spend more time on the service, Netflix has started experimenting with new content, including expanding into live sports broadcasting, video podcasts, and shows featuring YouTubers.

At the same time, investors have expressed disappointment with the company's movie and television lineup: Despite Netflix consistently featuring with a number of series at the top of Nielsen's viewing lists (Nielsen Top 10), the company failed to produce a hit that broke into public consciousness in 2026 in the same way that series like Stranger Things , Squid Game , or Wednesday did in recent years.

Beyond that, despite spending astronomical amounts aimed at attracting the industry's top directors and actors, the direct-to-streaming distribution approach has led to Netflix's films struggling to become cultural events capable of attracting new subscribers. Hollywood's success at the summer box office, with the movies Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey each grossing more than $1,000,000,000 worldwide, only highlighted the enduring power of the big screen and its ability to capture audience attention.

Netflix turns to theatrical releases to win back audiences Consequently, Netflix has started changing its distribution model, betting that releasing movies in theaters will help position the platform as a destination for flagship films. As part of this, the company plans to release Greta Gerwig's film, Narnia , in theaters worldwide in 2027, breaking its long-standing model of releasing movies directly to the streaming service .

The current wave of layoffs comes just a week before Netflix is scheduled to report its financial results for the quarter. However, Sarandos and Peters reassured employees and stated that the company is still on track to meet its annual financial forecast. The last time Netflix announced significant layoffs was in 2022, following its report of a first quarterly subscriber drop in over a decade – a shock that led to a comprehensive reassessment of its business strategy and the streaming model across Hollywood as a whole.

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