Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) has not been having a very good 2022. The streaming platform's stock plummeted after it announced it had lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, and in May, the company laid off 150 workers to cut costs. On June 23, Netflix announced that it would be laying off an additional 300 employees.
"While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth," Netflix wrote in a statement. "We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition."
The workers being laid off account for roughly 3% of Netflix's employees, with a total of 11,000 full-time workers. According to CNN, the majority of those layoffs will affect U.S. residents.
In April, Netflix announced that it had lost 200,000 subscribers, the first time the company has reported a loss in subscribers in more than ten years. The platform had expected to report subscriber growth of 2.5 million users.
The day after the announcement, Netflix share prices dropped 35%, representing a loss of around $50 billion in company value. Since then, the stock price has dropped another 35%, or $170, to $180 per share, after starting 2022 at nearly $600.
Along with layoffs, Netflix is also trying to stay afloat by cracking down on password sharing, something which the company blames for its shrinking subscriber base.
"In addition to our 222 million paying households, we estimate that Netflix is being shared with over 100 million additional households, including over 30 million in the [United States/Canada] region," the company said.
The platform also has plans to introduce a lower-priced subscription tier with ads to better compete with services like Hulu (NYSE: DIS) that already offer ad-supported options.
Although, Netflix's competitors have not come out unscathed: due to the shocking downturn in the streaming company's performance, other platforms like Disney+ have also seen their share prices drop. Netflix's subscriber stagnation brings into question whether or not streaming services can continue to draw in new users.