Netflix Lets Go Of 150 Employees As It Looks To Slow Down Its Costs

Video streaming giant Netflix has laid off about 150 staff based in the US, the company confirmed on Tuesday. The company had to embark on this to reduce its growing costs and also to get back on its feet after a difficultly disappointing quarter. The company said it had to let go of so many people not as a result of their performance or other factors, but as a result of its business needs.

“As we explained on earnings, our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly U.S.-based. These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We’re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition,” a representative from the company wrote in an emailed statement.

To say the truth, there had been expectations that the company would lay off some employees. In its last letter to shareholders that came along with its first-quarter earnings results, the company wrote that “Our revenue growth has slowed considerably as our results and forecast below show.”

For the first quarter of 2022, the company reported revenue of $7.87 billion falling short of an expectation of $7.93 billion from analysts, according to Refinitiv. For global paid net subscriber additions, the company reported a loss of 200,000 compared to an increment of 2.73 million subscribers that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.

The lay-off comes after the company laid off employees from its recently-launched content marketing operation called Tudum. According to experts, this is a good place to start the cut-offs as the unit isn’t critical to Netflix’s day-to-day operations.

According to reports, Netflix mostly laid off people in its creative unit. Directors from its original series segment such as Sebastian Gibbs, Brooke Kessler, and Negin Salmasi, were reportedly part of the employees the company had to let go of.