After losing over 200,000 subscribers since the end of last year, streaming giant Netflix is set to cut 150 jobs.
The company has been in dire straits since the beginning of the pandemic and have opted to blame increasing competition, slowing smart TV adoption, password sharing, and ‘macroeconomic developments,’ such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on it’s decline in revenue.
Most of the employees being laid off are based in the US and work in creative positions across film and TV.
The company expects to lose another two million subscribers by next quarter.
In a statement the company insists, ‘streaming is winning over linear, as we predicted, and Netflix titles are very popular globally. However, our relatively high household penetration – when including the large number of households sharing accounts – combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.’
The company estimates that in addition to its 222 million paying households, another 100 million households are piggybacking for free.
Increasing competition from Youtube, Amazon, Hulu and other streamers is cutting into its market, though Netflix continues to dominate by a small margin.
Last week, Netflix dished out a new ‘culture memo’ to staff telling them if they are offended by content the company is working on, they can seek employment elsewhere.
The guidance came largely in response to workers saying they would part ways with the company if they continued to work with Dave Chappelle whose recent specials for the streamer have caused backlash over jokes about transgender people.
The new policy, titled ‘Artistic Expression,’ asserts that brass at the company will not ‘censor specific artists or voices’ even if employees consider the content ‘harmful.’
