The streaming service Netflix has laid off around a thousand employees, or 6% of its workforce. The move came as the company published its financial report for the third quarter of 2026, which showed the slowest revenue growth in three years.
Revenue came in at $12.87 billion, up 11.8% from the same period last year. To achieve net profit of $3.66 billion, management resorted to staff reductions. Among those dismissed were content director Bela Bajaria, head of film Dan Lin and the head of original series. Peter Rice, previously of television, has been appointed the new content director.
The decision comes against a backdrop of declining viewer engagement. According to estimates by the analytics firm Jefferies, average viewing time per subscriber fell from 66 hours a month in 2023 to 49 hours in 2026. At the same time, the company has run into difficulties in its advertising business: the annual advertising revenue forecast was cut from $3 billion to $2.7 billion. Netflix attributed this to a slower-than-expected rollout of new advertising features. In 2027, the company plans to launch an ad-supported subscription plan in 15 more countries, including Colombia, New Zealand and several European countries.
Netflix will also change how it publishes viewing statistics. From 2027, its "What We Watched" reports, which detail what subscribers are watching, will come out once a year rather than every six months. The company said this would allow it to "focus on primary financial metrics: revenue and operating income."
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