TLDR
Netflix cut roughly 1,000 staff on 14 October, about 6% of its 16,000-person workforce, spanning product, technology, legal and content teams. Bela Bajaria is leaving as Chief Content Officer and will be replaced by Peter Rice on 26 October. The moves arrive five days before quarterly earnings, with engagement up just 2% in the first half of 2026.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The cuts
Netflix announced about 1,000 redundancies on 14 October, roughly 6% of its workforce, in the largest layoff in its history.[1] Most of the cuts hit product, technology, legal and human resources, but they also reached PR and communications, marketing, the gaming division and the TV and film content teams.[1] Netflix had about 16,000 full-time staff at the end of 2025.[1] It gave no regional breakdown, and no Australian roles have been confirmed as affected.
The last comparable round came in 2022, when Netflix cut about 450 staff across two rounds.[1] In an internal memo, co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the company had to be disciplined about where it puts people and money, while still investing in high-impact areas, and that it remained on track to meet its full-year forecast.[1]
Bajaria out, Rice in
Bela Bajaria, who joined Netflix in 2016 and became chief content officer in January 2023, is leaving after nearly a decade; she oversaw an annual content budget of about $20 billion.[1] "I want to thank Bela for a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership," Sarandos said.[4]
Peter Rice takes over from 26 October. He was most recently chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of general entertainment at Disney, overseeing networks including ABC, FX, Hulu and National Geographic.[2] Sarandos called him "one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry".[2] Rice said Netflix "has fundamentally changed the way stories are made, shared and experienced around the world".[2] Film chief Dan Lin is reportedly expected to leave too, though that decision now rests with Rice.[1]
What the numbers say
The changes come with Netflix's shares down nearly 40% over the past year and engagement up only 2% in the first half of 2026.[4] Content spending is still rising, by about 10% this year, while ad revenue is projected to roughly double to about $3 billion.[3]
Netflix reports third-quarter results on 20 October US time, 21 October in Australia.[1] Its shares have fallen after each of its last six earnings reports, including a 7.26% drop after July's.[3]
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- Netflix's week of disruption: Bela Bajaria out, Peter Rice in as 1,000 jobs are cut, What's on Netflix
- Peter Rice named Netflix chief content officer, Netflix
- Netflix is cutting about 1,000 jobs and its content chief is out, days before earnings, 24/7 Wall St
- Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria out, to be replaced by Peter Rice, TheWrap
Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.
