Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly planning to lay off nearly 5 per cent of its global workforce, a move that could affect hundreds of jobs, according to a report by Puck News citing people close to the matter. The announcement could come as early as next week, the report indicated.

Scale of the Cuts

Netflix had approximately 16,000 full-time employees at the end of last year, meaning a 5 per cent reduction would translate to roughly 800 jobs. The company has not publicly confirmed the reports, and a spokesperson had not commented at the time of writing. The last significant round of layoffs at Netflix occurred in 2022, when the company shed hundreds of positions amid slowing subscriber growth and a sharp stock correction.

Why Netflix is Cutting Jobs

According to the report, the cuts are being considered as Netflix contends with intensifying competition across the streaming landscape. Media companies have been consolidating aggressively, while Google-owned YouTube continues to capture a growing share of both viewership and advertising budgets — two areas Netflix has only recently entered. The company has diversified beyond its traditional subscription model into advertising-supported tiers, live programming, and gaming, but the transition has reportedly brought its own cost pressures.

Broader Tech Layoff Wave

The potential Netflix cuts arrive within a broader wave of technology-sector job reductions in 2026. According to a report from May 2026, more than 80,000 tech jobs had already been eliminated in the first quarter of the year alone, with total losses projected to exceed 3 lakh annually — led by companies including Oracle, Amazon, and Meta.

Separately, Oracle has begun a fresh round of layoffs as the software giant looks to reduce payroll costs while simultaneously committing tens of billions of dollars to expand data-centre capacity and meet surging demand for artificial intelligence computing. Company filings show that Oracle's employee count declined by around 21,000, or 13 per cent, during the fiscal year ended 31 May 2026. The company had approximately 141,000 employees before its latest round of cuts.

The AI Infrastructure Dilemma

The layoffs across the tech sector highlight a structural tension: large technology companies are simultaneously investing heavily in AI infrastructure while cutting human headcount to manage operating costs. For Netflix specifically, the pressure to fund new content formats, advertising technology, and gaming while controlling overheads appears to be driving the workforce review. This is the second major reset at Netflix in four years, underscoring how quickly the streaming industry's economics have shifted since the pandemic-era subscriber boom.

Whether Netflix's reported cuts will stabilise its cost base or signal a deeper strategic reset remains to be seen, with the industry watching next week's expected announcement closely.