Netflix to cut 1,000 jobs, hitting engineering and legal teams

Streaming service Netflix is cutting 1,000 jobs, with layoffs affecting its engineering and legal departments, among others. It is one of the largest reductions in the company's history, and management told employees about it in an internal memo.

“Decisions like these are never easy, and we do not take them lightly,” wrote co-chairs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos. According to them, the business remains strong, but Netflix must choose carefully where to direct people and money: it wants to concentrate resources where they will do the most to improve the service and support future growth.

The plans leaked to the press last week. A US outlet then cited a figure of about 850 people, or five percent of staff. Netflix did not comment on that information, and the announcement did not say which departments would be affected.

Profit grew this year thanks to a larger subscriber base and higher subscription prices. In the second quarter the company reported a profit of $3.4 billion (CZK 73.95 billion) on revenue of $12.56 billion (CZK 273.2 billion). Net profit rose by nine percent and revenue by 13 percent, the US news site notes.

Doubts about the strategy grew this year after Netflix's failed attempt to buy streaming and studio assets of Warner Bros. Discovery. They went to Paramount, which completed a $110 billion (CZK 2.4 trillion) deal in early October.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz