Netflix lays off 150 employees after losing 200,000 subscribers, or will introduce a policy to limit shared accounts

On Tuesday, streaming giant Netflix announced it was laying off about 150 employees, most of them in the United States. The layoffs came less than a month after Netflix reported earnings that showed it lost 200,000 subscribers and expected to post a loss in the next quarter, the company’s first subscriber decline in a decade.

Shares in the company have fallen nearly 70% since January.

“Our slowing revenue growth means that, as a company, we’re also having to reduce costs,” a Netflix spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “So unfortunately, we’re laying off approximately 150 employees today, mostly In the U.S. These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than personal performance, which makes them especially difficult because none of us want to say goodbye to such wonderful colleagues. We are working hard to support them through this very difficult transition .”

And in April, Netflix laid off staff at its fan site Tudum, a companion site that Netflix launched in December as a complement to Netflix’s content.

Netflix’s layoffs, while related to a slowdown in its subscribers, are also part of a massive layoff in the tech industry. Several other tech companies recently announced they were halting hiring and laying off workers, including Facebook parent Meta, Amazon, Uber and Robinhood.

In the company’s earnings report last month, Chief Executive Hastings said the company is exploring ways to use a lower-priced, more ad-supported service in hopes of attracting new subscribers.

Netflix has long listed password sharing as an issue for its business, previously pointing out that more than 100 million households share it through accounts in addition to its existing 222 million paying households. So efforts are made to crack down on rampant password sharing, and a method of charging for shared accounts is being tested.

It is reported that Netflix is ​​expected to launch the new regulations as soon as the end of this year, and has already been piloted in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica in March. Advanced” plan, and users of the “Basic” plan cannot share accounts.

The technology the company is testing will require subscribers to pay extra if it detects that users with multiple addresses are logged into the same account.

In addition, each account must be open for sharing. Sub-accounts can be released for use by non-residents, but they can only be shared with other 2 users. Unlike before, multiple people can watch videos together for free. As for the cost part, take Costa Rica as an example, each person will be charged an additional $2.99.

The above scheme is still in the testing stage, and it is not yet known whether it will be launched globally. In addition, according to “The Verge” report, Netflix seems to have plans to create a live broadcast service and launch new content such as reality shows and talk shows to restore a large number of lost users.

(Leifeng Network)

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