Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees on Wednesday, October 14, in the company's biggest round of cuts in four years. The reduction equals approximately 6 percent of the streamer's global workforce, according to a staff email from co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters obtained by The Wrap.
Most of the cuts landed in product, technology, legal, and human resources. But the film division was not spared. Doug Belgrad, Netflix's VP of Film and one of Dan Lin's first hires after Lin succeeded Scott Stuber in 2024, was let go. Belgrad oversaw more than 50 movies and managed more than 35 production executives. His credits at the streamer included Happy Gilmore 2, Train Dreams, and People We Meet on Vacation. He worked closely with Greta Gerwig, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Berg, and Joe Carnahan.
Greg Lombardo, head of live experiences, also departed after seven years at the company. His exit puts the future of the Netflix House initiative in question.
Netflix shares are down 26 percent since January and 42 percent over the past 12 months. Third-quarter earnings are due next Tuesday. Sarandos, speaking at Bloomberg's Screentime conference, said: "We're not growing as fast as I want us to, and we're working on making that move faster."
In their staff email, the co-CEOs described the cuts as necessary without signaling a strategic shift: "Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full-year forecast." Analysts were less confident. "Netflix's layoffs show that even the top streaming companies are not immune to stagnation and financial difficulties," Ross Benes of eMarketer told The Wrap.
The cuts arrive as Netflix pushes into theatrical exhibition. La Bola Negra opened this week under a 45-day theatrical window, and Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew is set for a global theatrical release in 2027. Whether Belgrad's departure slows that push will become clearer once Lin names a replacement.