NETFLIX POSTS A $3.7 BILLION QUARTER, PROCEEDS TO CUT 1,000+ JOBS

Netflix cut roughly 1,000 jobs on October 14, about 6% of its workforce, with product, tech, legal and HR eating most of it. Biggest round since 2022. The memo from co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said delivering the mission "requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources," then landed on the line "Now it's on us to step up and meet the moment." Hard to step up when the badge stops working at lunch. The next day chief content officer Bela Bajaria was out after nearly a decade, and staff reportedly learned about it from the press before anyone told them internally. Then film boss Dan Lin, his lieutenant Doug Belgrad, and original series director Carolina Garcia. NPR counted the chairman of Netflix Film plus six other top executives gone. The new content chief is Peter Rice, who Bob Chapek fired from Disney in 2022, which is one hell of a comeback route. Then the earnings hit and they were fine. Revenue of $12.9 billion, net income of $3.7 billion, a beat on Wall Street estimates, and management trimming its own guidance on advertising and free cash flow. Sarandos told investors the U.S. is "just not growing as fast as it could or as fast as we'd like," and added, "I know that we could do better." Eight executives already knew who he meant.

Why you should give a shit: Netflix banked $3.7 billion in three months and still cut a thousand people, so when a CEO says it's on all of us to meet the moment, go check which of us he's counting.