Netflix to Cut About 1,000 Jobs and Names a New Content Chief

Netflix is cutting about 1,000 jobs, roughly 6% of its staff. The streamer has also replaced its top content executive, even as Korean originals like actor Kim Moo-yul's "Teach You a Lesson" (Chamgyoyuk) and actress Shin Hye-sun's "The Art of Sarah" (Leidi Dua) find big global audiences.

Revenue and operating profit are still climbing. But growth has slowed, and the changes look like an effort to reorganize the company around that reality. With several Korean titles set to premiere soon, the industry in Seoul is watching to see what comes next.

The layoffs are Netflix's biggest restructuring since 2022. That year, the company cut about 450 people in two rounds. Four years later, the new cuts are more than double that size.

The numbers behind the move are mixed. Netflix said its third-quarter revenue reached about $12.87 billion (about 18 trillion won), up 11.8% from the same period last year. Operating income rose 37% year over year.

Revenue growth, though, fell to its lowest rate since 2023. In the third quarter of last year, revenue grew 17.2%. This year's figure is 5.4 percentage points lower. Profits are better, but finding new ways to grow has become a pressing task.

Tougher competition among video platforms and flat viewing time are seen as the main reasons for the slowdown. Free platforms like YouTube and TikTok keep getting bigger. According to Nielsen Korea, YouTube's share of total U.S. TV viewing time hit 14.2% in July, its highest ever. Netflix's share was 7.8%.

The content side of the company is changing too. Netflix named Peter Rice, who previously worked at Disney, as its new chief content officer, succeeding Bela Bajaria, who spent about 10 years at the company. Starting on Oct. 26, Rice will oversee Netflix's films, series and unscripted shows worldwide. Dan Lin, who has led the film division since 2024, has also left the company. These changes mark a shift in the leadership overseeing Netflix's content development and production.

None of this means Netflix is short on hits. In the third quarter, the American title "The Last House" drew 91 million views. The Mexican title "Facing El Chapo" (El Chapo-reul Chepohara) reached 58 million.

Korean content remains one of the platform's biggest strengths. In the first half of this year, "Teach You a Lesson" recorded 48 million views. "Can This Love Be Translated?" (I Sarang Tongyeok Doenayo?) and "Lady Dua" also performed well, with 29 million and 26 million views, respectively.

More Korean titles are scheduled to arrive for the rest of the year. The horror series "Dead-End Job" (Kkul Alba), starring Lee Jae-wook and Go Min-si, is set to premiere on Oct. 30. Director Lee Chang-dong's film "Possible Love" (Ganeunghan Sarang) and "The Devil's Plan: Dead Again" are also among the upcoming releases.

Netflix has also announced new Korean original series. These include the second and third seasons of "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call," "Solo Leveling" starring Byeon Woo-seok and Han So-hee, and "Paper Man" (Peipeomaen) starring Cho Jung-seok and Park Hae-soo.

So far, Netflix has not announced any changes to the release dates or production plans for these Korean projects. The job cuts are concentrated in product, technology, legal and human resources. As a result, it is hard to say the shake-up will directly disrupt titles that are already locked in.

The bigger question is how the changes might shape Netflix's future spending and production in Korea. If the company shifts how it picks projects, or how much budget is allocated across genres, Korean production companies could feel the effects.

Netflix executives pushed back on the idea of a major shift during an earnings call on Oct. 20. They said the goal is to carry out the current content strategy better, not to overhaul it. They also said content from Asia, including Korea and Japan, is performing well.

Korean shows have helped drive Netflix's global growth for years, and they are likely to stay central to its plans. Now the company is betting on big changes to get through a slower stretch. Whether it keeps working closely with Korean producers and keeps finding new hits will say a lot about where global streaming goes from here.