Several Netflix employees took to social media after they were laid-off by the streamer, on Thursday. The lay-offs come as a cost-cutting measure after the platform recently revealed the loss of over 200,000 subscribers in its first quarter of 2022.
Although the exact number of lay-offs is still unclear, a lot of those asked to leave belonged to Netflix’s fan-focused platform TUDUM, which was introduced in December, 2021. Most people were writers who are now seeking editorial opportunities elsewhere.
“Netflix recruited me seven months ago only to lay me and a bunch of other talented people off today. I’m going to take time off to just exist, so please get in touch if you’ll have editing and content strategy opportunities open after August,” wrote Evette Dionne, another ex-employee at Netflix.
Dionne, who has an upcoming book Weightless in December, added, “But companies doing this shit to writers really, really, really gets under my skin. They deserve better than callousness and cowardice.”
Some other employees mentioned that they were laid-off along with their entire department.
“If anyone is hiring let me know. Netflix just laid off me and my brilliant team members. Continue to cancel your subscriptions!” wrote a writer who worked with TUDUM.
“Hey y’all! I was one of the writers who got laid off at Netflix today. So, I am available! Please send any assignments my way. I’m quick, my copy is clean, I get along with editors. I can do short, I can do long, reported features, essays, you name it,” wrote Max Cea, who also worked as a writer at netflix.
Netflix’s move has been criticised by netizens.
A user wrote, “Intriguing Netflix editorial strategy to hire some of the best entertainment/culture minds in the biz, very specifically court a ton of non-white women with the offer of a truly life-changing amount of money, only to shitcan everyone mere months later. God damn.”
In addition to the cuts in the editorial staff, Netflix has also eliminated 25 people from its global marketing team, according to a Variety report.
With the loss of a significant chunk of its subscriber base and a forecast of an additional loss of 2 million members in the next quarter, it is clear that Netflix is aiming for damage control by letting go of its employees and eliminating positions.
The platform could also be facing a shift in priorities.
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While creating in-roads into the Indian consumer market was one of the streamer’s main priorities, the last quarterly meeting saw hardly any discussion on the country.
It is to be noted that Netflix had earlier slashed prices in India in an effort to promote growth in the country, while increasing the prices of plans in the US. However, Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said that revised plans have not had any significant impact in India.
Netflix is also busy clamping down on the menace of password-sharing among households, and has launched tests for the same.
While the leadership mentioned during the financial meeting that the platform will continue to grow content spends in relative to prior years, it added that Netflix would pull back on some of the spend owing to the low acquisition.