Netflix is preparing to lay off approximately five percent of its global workforce as part of an upcoming corporate restructuring, according to an initial report from digital outlet Puck News. A spokesperson for the streaming platform declined to comment on the matter, and the company has not publicly confirmed the planned reductions.
The streaming giant concluded 2025 with about 16,000 full-time workers, meaning a five percent reduction would eliminate roughly 800 positions. Around 68 percent of the company’s workforce—totaling nearly 10,900 individuals—was based in the U.S. and Canada as of last December, Variety reported. Word of the impending cuts circulated among industry insiders on Thursday, with an official announcement expected as early as next week, according to Deadline and Puck.
Engagement struggles and digital competition
The reported downsizing arrives as Netflix faces mounting scrutiny on Wall Street regarding slowing growth and viewership trends. Over the past year, shares of Netflix have tumbled more than 40 percent, trading near $71 on Friday morning, TheWrap reported. Investment analysts at both HSBC and Wells Fargo downgraded the stock last month, citing decelerating engagement and aggressive competition from Alphabet’s YouTube platform.
According to Nielsen data cited by TheWrap, YouTube captured 14.2 percent of total television viewing time in July, while Netflix held 7.8 percent. Furthermore, Netflix recorded user engagement growth of just two percent during the opening six months of 2026. Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos admitted that “overall, we’re not growing as fast as I want us to.” He added that management is “working on making that move faster.”
Sarandos also highlighted that newer initiatives have created short-term drag on engagement metrics. He explained that live events consume roughly five percent of the streamer’s production expenditure while generating only about one percent of total viewing hours.
Consolidation battles and financial margins
The planned cuts also follow intense consolidation among legacy media conglomerates. In December, Netflix reached an $83 billion agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio divisions. However, that transaction fell apart when Netflix refused to surpass an aggressive $110 billion counteroffer from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, which completed its acquisition on Tuesday.
Sarandos defended Netflix’s decision to walk away from that bidding war, arguing the platform bid the maximum amount possible without harming investor returns. When asked about creator-driven content during the Bloomberg event, Sarandos reiterated that Netflix remains focused on “professionally produced content” rather than courting the broad community of independent creators seen on platforms like YouTube.
Unlike the company’s 2022 layoffs—which eliminated about 450 jobs after its first quarterly subscriber decline in a decade—the current cuts follow years of robust expansion and rising profit margins. Netflix has maintained its 2026 operating margin target of 31.5 percent alongside projected full-year revenue between $51.0 billion and $51.4 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. It remains unknown which specific internal departments will bear the brunt of the cuts, though more details may surface when Netflix reports its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
