Netflix plans to lay off nearly 1,000 workers in Chicago
Netflix will eliminate about 6% of its workforce across offices including Chicago, company leaders announced Wednesday. The reduction will eliminate nearly 1,000 jobs during wider structural changes.
Co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos announced the reductions in a staff memo. The company’s product, tech, legal and human resources teams will see the largest impact.
“Decisions like these are never easy, and we don’t take them lightly,” Peters and Sarandos wrote in the memo.
The executives wrote that business remained strong. They said the business needed discipline regarding resource allocation for future growth. The company declined further comment.
Profit grew this year through membership signups and price increases. Second-quarter earnings reached $3.4 billion on revenue of $12.56 billion. Those figures represent gains of 9% and 13% over last year.
The company forecast for the third quarter trailed expectations on Wall Street. Netflix plans to report those upcoming earnings next week.
Streaming competitors continue to challenge the company in Chicago and across the industry. Data from JustWatch shows Netflix holds 19% of the market share. Competitors Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ follow closely behind.
Skydance completed an $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery last week. HBO Max and Paramount+ now share ownership under that combined firm. The new entertainment company plans to merge its streaming platforms over time.
Netflix walked away from an earlier purchase offer in February. The company had agreed to buy the studio and streaming business late last year.
Corporate layoffs often involve severance packages and transitions for affected workers. Companies adjust internal structures to redirect operational budgets toward newer corporate targets.
Regulatory filings showed Netflix employed about 16,000 full-time workers globally at the end of 2025. The Chicago area workforce faces the largest cuts the firm has made in years.
