Netflix has laid off 300 employees or 4 per cent of its total workforce as a part of its second round of job cuts to lower costs after the streaming giant lost subscribers for the first time in a decade. The company laid off around 150 employees and dozens of contractors in May.
Netflix spokesperson Bao Nguyen said the move would affect “many different teams” and workers primarily based out of the US, though the company has axed some international roles too.
“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees. While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth,” Nguyen said.
The announcement marked the second round of job cuts at Netflix after its Q1 earnings report, where it announced that revenue growth has been slowing owing to the fall in subscribers base for the first time in over a decade.
While Netflix has 220 million subscribers globally and remains the clear leader in the streaming market, it has faced fierce competition in recent years with the launch of rival platforms such as Disney Plus and Amazon’s Prime Video.
Even as the streaming giant has to contend with the slow revenue growth, it also has to tackle password sharing, which is one of the factors contributing to its retarding growth rate.
Besides, the fall in subscriptions could also be attributed to the company’s recent move to increase prices in the US, UK and elsewhere, weaning customers away from the platform and toward cheaper OTT services.
The company said its subscriber count may fall another two million in the three months to July, after falling by 200,000 earlier this year.
In May this year, Netflix laid off 150 employees after reporting a fall in subscriptions. In a statement released then, Netflix said, “These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance,” the statement said,” which makes them especially tough.”
Netflix CEO had expressed anguish over the company’s steady overall decline and its failure in India
Popular video streaming and production company, Netflix, has been witnessing a steady slump in the growth of its subscriber base. As per reports, the investors had lost a whopping $45 billion in market value earlier this year due to the aspersion that the company was going to enter a period of slow growth. Last year, the company could add only 18.2 million customers, which was 50% less than that of 2020.
In January 2022, analysts predicted the slump is likely to continue for another quarter. Speaking about Netflix’s tepid performance across the world, especially in India, CEO Reed Hastings said, “The thing that frustrates us is why haven’t we been more successful in India.”
