Netflix has announced a new round of layoffs, choosing this time to let go of over 150 employees. Many of the laid off employees were involved with “LBGT+ and BIPOC” projects.
The move comes just weeks after Netflix shut down its branded content arm Tudum, which was comprised of “predominately Black women and women of color staffers”, according to Yahoo News.
The struggling streaming giant later announced a fresh round of layoffs this past Tuesday. According to the Los Angeles Times, the platform announced it would be letting go of 150 employees “amid a slowdown in revenue and a decline in subscribers.” In a statement announcing the layoffs, a Netflix spokesperson explained that the reasoning behind the decision was “primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance.”
Netflix has been struggling mightily as surging inflation has been driving Americans to cut entertainment costs. The streaming service has been steadily increasing its prices over the years and has announced plans to cut down on password sharing, further drawing the ire of customers.
The company has also become very political, particularly in the realm of leftist social policies. Thousands of customers canceled their subscriptions last summer over the company’s distribution of the French film “Cuties”, which featured sexualized images of pre-teen children.
“Cuties” has been described as child pornography by one Texas DA, who brought charges against Netflix for child porn distribution. The case is currently playing out in court, though thousands have said they will never return to the company over its distribution of “Cuties” regardless of what happens with the case.
Internal Netflix projections had the company picking up 1.3 million subscribers in the period immediately following the film’s release, but they ultimately gained just 177,000.
Netflix has been one of the worst performing blue-chip stocks since the beginning of 2021. The streaming giant recently announced that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. The decline marked the first time Netflix had lost subscribers in a quarter for the first time in more than a decade.
As the downturn continues, company executives appear to be backtracking on their backing of leftist social agendas. A recent company memo essentially told far-left employees that they should quit if they have any issue with a piece of content.
Reporting from National File.
