Netflix to lay off 1,000 staff amid intensifying competition for user attention
Netflix said most of the cuts would affect its product, tech, legal, and human resources departments.
Key points
- Netflix is laying off about 6% of its workforce, or close to 1,000 employees.
- Cuts will hit product, tech, legal, and human resources departments.
- The layoffs follow Netflix's failed bid for Warner Bros. Discovery assets and rising competition from social apps.
Netflix is cutting about 6% of its staff, or close to 1,000 employees, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The streaming giant said most of the layoffs will affect its product, tech, legal, and human resources departments.
Netflix had 16,000 full-time employees at the end of last year, according to its annual regulatory filing. The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs, citing an internal memo.
What the company said
Netflix said it will "continue to invest aggressively in high impact areas" to improve its service, and stated it is on track to deliver its full-year forecast.
In the memo cited by the Journal, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters wrote that the company's mission to entertain the world is ambitious and requires discipline about where it prioritizes people and resources.
Our mission—to entertain the world—is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources
— Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters
Competition and recent bid
The layoffs come after Netflix lost a protracted bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio businesses to Paramount Skydance earlier this year. Netflix had seen potential in Warner Bros.' assets, including its studios, HBO, streaming platforms, games, and TV networks such as CNN and HGTV.
Netflix has faced intensifying competition from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social apps for users' attention. Reports from market research firms say TikTok is catching up to Netflix in user engagement, and YouTube is said to have surpassed Netflix in average daily viewing in 2025.
Netflix has bet on AI-supported features, gaming, and video podcasts, and has dabbled in short-form video while redesigning its mobile app. In 2025, Netflix reported revenue of $45.2 billion and said ad revenue had risen to over $1.5 billion.
