A potential reduction of roughly 800 positions may be coming at Netflix. Anonymous-source reporting from Puck News, cited by Reuters, says the company is preparing to cut approximately 5% of its workforce, though Netflix declined to comment and has not confirmed the plan.
What the Report Says
The reported figures remain unconfirmed, and the company has offered no official characterization of the plan.
The reported reduction is based on Netflix’s approximate headcount of 16,000 full-time workers at the end of 2025. At 5%, that would amount to roughly 800 positions, though secondary coverage has cited a figure closer to 850.
Reuters reported that an announcement could come as early as the week after the October 9 report, though no confirmed date has been established. The departments or business units potentially affected have not been identified in available reporting. The available reports did not disclose severance terms.
The 5% reduction figure comes from people familiar with the matter, as attributed by Puck News and cited by Reuters. Netflix declined to comment.
Context and Pressure
If confirmed, the reported cuts would be the company’s largest workforce reduction since 2022, arriving amid measurable pressure on both engagement and the stock.
If confirmed, the cuts would represent Netflix’s largest workforce reduction since 2022, when the company eliminated hundreds of positions amid slowing growth and subscriber losses. The possible reduction fits a broader pattern in the media industry, though specific sourced comparisons to peer-company reductions have not been established in available reporting.
Netflix shares have faced significant pressure over the prior year, though the precise decline varies by measurement date and source. Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall reportedly found that Netflix members averaged 1.6 hours of daily viewing during the first half of 2026. That figure runs roughly 8% below the comparable period in 2023, adjusted for factors including password-sharing changes, according to reporting citing Cahall’s analysis.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly acknowledged at a Bloomberg conference that Netflix was not growing as quickly as he wanted. He reportedly said the company was working to accelerate that growth. That statement has not been independently verified against the original recording or transcript and should be treated with caution until confirmed.
To address engagement concerns, Netflix has been pursuing advertising-supported tiers, live programming, gaming, and short-form vertical video.
Which teams face cuts, when an announcement may come, and whether Netflix will confirm the plan at all remain open questions. For the roughly 800 people potentially affected, those answers have not arrived.
