Published : 16 Oct 2026, 09:53 PM
Updated : 16 Oct 2026, 09:53 PM
Netflix has laid off around 1,000 employees and replaced its chief content officer as the streaming giant scrambles to address slowing growth in its most important market, Variety reports.
The cuts -- the company’s largest to date -- come despite a strong financial position. Netflix posted a net profit of $11 billion in 2025 on revenues of $46.6 billion, and still holds $9.1 billion in cash.
Yet investors have grown uneasy: shares are down 20 percent year-to-date, rattled by a deceleration in revenue growth in the US and Canada (UCAN) region -- from 14 percent in Q1 to 10 percent in Q2 of 2026 -- and third-quarter guidance that fell short of analyst expectations.
Alongside the job cuts, Netflix has removed Bela Bajaria as chief content officer, replacing her with Peter Rice, a veteran of Disney and 21st Century Fox.
Multiple industry sources told Variety they believe Bajaria is being made a scapegoat for broader structural problems, noting that Netflix has not produced a breakout cultural hit on the scale of “Stranger Things” in years.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos appeared to acknowledge the content gap in a memo to staff, writing that he sees “an opportunity to take our slate to the next level, especially in UCAN.”
In a separate companywide note, Sarandos and co-chief Greg Peters framed the redundancies as a means to “invest aggressively in high-impact areas,” Variety reported.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Pitz said the leadership shake-up suggested engagement in the UCAN region may have weakened further in the third quarter, and his firm has trimmed revenue forecasts for the rest of 2026 and 2027, with no expectation of a UCAN rebound before 2029.
Netflix is not alone. Disney, also profitable, has carried out three rounds of layoffs in 2026, citing a need to free up capital for growth investment.
Netflix is due to report third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026.
