Netflix cuts 1,000 jobs despite pulling in $45 billion and 325 million subscribers

Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees this week—about 6% of its workforce—making it the company's biggest cut since 2022. Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters broke the news Wednesday morning in a memo that hit product, technology, legal, and HR teams hardest.

The timing's weird. Netflix just posted $45.2 billion in revenue for 2025, up 16% from the year before, and pulled in $11 billion in net income—a 26% jump. The company now serves more than 325 million subscribers worldwide. Second quarter 2026 revenue hit $12.6 billion, up 13.4% year-over-year. By any measure, the money's rolling in.

So why the cuts? Sarandos told a Bloomberg conference Netflix isn't growing as fast as he wants. That's the executive answer. The real-world answer is probably that Wall Street wants leaner operations and fatter margins, even when a company's already printing cash.

What this means for you

Your Netflix subscription won't change. The shows and movies you watch won't disappear. But fewer people working behind the scenes could mean slower feature rollouts, longer waits for customer service, and maybe less experimentation with new ideas.

Netflix's last big layoff happened in 2022, when it cut about 450 staffers. That round came after the company lost subscribers for the first time in a decade. This time, subscribers are still climbing—Netflix just wants them climbing faster.

Shares dropped about 1% Wednesday after the announcement. Netflix is set to report third quarter 2026 earnings on October 20, and investors will be watching to see if these cuts show up as improved profit margins.

The bigger picture

This is part of a broader tech trend. Companies that grew fast during the pandemic are now trimming back, even when profits are strong. For Netflix, it's a bet that fewer employees can deliver the same results—or better ones—if the remaining teams work more efficiently.

For the 1,000 people who lost their jobs, that's cold comfort. For subscribers, it's a reminder that the streaming wars aren't just about content anymore. They're about who can squeeze the most profit out of every dollar, even if it means doing more with less.