Netflix Inc. is planning to cut around 5% of its workforce as early as next week, according to a report by the newsletter Puck.
A spokesperson for the streaming giant declined to comment on the reported job cuts, news agency Bloomberg said.
had approximately 16,000 full-time employees at the end of last year, with 68% of its workforce based in the US, according to a regulatory filing.
Netflix shares have fallen about 42% since the company began pursuing Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Investors viewed the proposed deal for the rival entertainment company as a sign of weakness, given Netflix’s historical reluctance to pursue large acquisitions, noted Bloomberg.
Warner Bros. Discovery was acquired this week by the newly renamed Skydance Corp.
Investors have also raised concerns about Netflix’s ability to keep viewers engaged. The streaming platform recorded just 2% growth in engagement in its latest reporting period, while its Emmy Awards wins dropped to their lowest level in a decade.
In recent years, Netflix has introduced several measures to increase revenue, including launching a lower-priced, ad-supported subscription plan, restricting password sharing and raising subscription prices. However, the company’s sales growth has slowed in recent quarters.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged last week at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in that Netflix was not expanding as quickly as he would like. To attract and retain audiences, the company has been broadening its offerings to include live events, podcasts and video games. It has also added programming from French television network TF1.
Netflix is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings on October 20.
Amazon reportedly cuts fewer than 1,000 white-collar jobs
Meanwhile, confirmed on Wednesday that it had eliminated a small number of jobs, mainly in its Stores division, which manages its primary e-commerce website.
The job cuts come as the company runs Prime Big Deal Days, one of its major shopping promotions. The two-day event began on Tuesday and concludes on Wednesday, with discounts across a range of products.
The latest reductions follow a series of smaller layoffs since Amazon began a larger workforce reduction involving 30,000 jobs last year, which continued through January. Some affected employees contacted Reuters, while others shared information about the layoffs through internal Slack channels.
Amazon laid off fewer than 1,000 white-collar employees, according to a person familiar with the matter. Business Insider had earlier reported the job cuts.
“We’ve adjusted parts of our Stores business because we believe this structure will better enable us to deliver on our priorities,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Posts on internal Slack channels indicated that the reductions affected several teams within the Stores division, including customer service and selling partner services. Other parts of Amazon may also have been affected, the posts suggested.
Employees in the US, India and the UK were among those who received layoff notices.
Jeff Bezos says pandemic hiring contributed to job cuts
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos said the company’s continued workforce reductions were necessary because it had hired too many employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Fox News that aired on Wednesday, Bezos was asked about the 30,000 jobs eliminated in the previous round of cuts.
“People were staying home and they were ordering, and it was an incredible, stressful period for us, by the way,” he said.
“The whole team worked extremely hard and did so much, but we really grew our head count,” Bezos added, referring to the increase in Amazon’s workforce during the period.