Netflix has announced plans to lay off around 150 staff as part of cost-cutting measures after it saw a decrease in its revenues and subscribers.

The redundancies, mainly at its offices in California, represents about 2% of its North American workforce. While unconfirmed by the company, reports suggest that the main departments that will be affected are its recruiting, communications, and content wings.

In addition, Netflix will cut at least 26 contractors working on its companion site Tudum, a service that offers subscribers bonus behind-the-scenes content from Netflix’s shows. A similar layoff of marketing roles occurred earlier this month, of which around a dozen were from Tudum.

One of the first casualties of the Netflix cost-cutting move was its animation department. In the days after the earnings report, the company let go its Director of Creative Leadership and Development for Original Animation, Phil Rynda, along with several staff members. In addition, several programs were cancelled.

“These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues,” a company statement reads.

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Netflix has been on the rocks since its last earnings report, which revealed that the company lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of this year.

After a decade of growth, and record additions over the pandemic, the reversal has spooked investors with the company projected to lose more subscribers.

The dip was largely blamed on a saturated streaming market, with competitors such as Disney+ making it harder to retain and attract new members. Furthermore, growing concerns about the cost of living has also driven many of its customers to cut back on entertainment spending.

As such, Netflix is taking action to cut costs and reassure its shareholders. Among its plans are introducing a cheaper subscription package subsidised by advertising and plans to crack down on password sharing.

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