Netflix has been frequently in the headlines as of late. Shortly after news broke regarding a drop in its subscribers (over 200,000), the streaming giant recently made headlines due to reported layoffs.
According to TechCrunch, the company laid off editorial staff from its in-house publication Tudum only five months after its launch.
Heat Over Twitter
In a statement to the outlet, a Netflix spokesperson shared: “Our fan website Tudum is an important priority for the company.”
What’s more, based on an influx of tweets following the layoff announcement, it appears that users have shared sentiments that allude to them feeling that the company doesn’t deem marginalized employees and/ or contractors as a priority.
Despite Netflix’s efforts to seemingly be more inclusive when hiring, many Black and brown women claimed the company did not truly value them and their work.
“It is worth mentioning that Netflix actively recruited Black women and people of color just to lay them off MONTHS later without a second thought,” journalist Monique Judge wrote via Twitter.
She continued: “Don’t brag about being inclusive when you treat your ‘diversity’ hires like they are disposable.”
Other former employees also joined — vocalizing their view of Netflix being disingenuous when hiring the group of women of color just a few months ago to now allegedly being given a two weeks severance pay and seeming left high and dry to find new jobs on such short notice.
Netflix shared that Tudum won’t be shut down, but has yet to share any additional details.
On the other end of the controversy, a source with knowledge of the matter shared with AfroTech that “Most of the reactions people are seeing online and on Twitter are from contractors at Netflix, and not full-time employees.”
They added: “The percentage of employees from historically underrepresented groups on the Netflix marketing team has stayed the same before and after the restructure.”
According to Variety, the Tudum layoffs came as Netflix reorganized its marketing team “to de-layer the executive team and simplify its reporting structure, as well as trim costs.”
Looking For Ways To Stay Afloat
What’s more, the layoffs come in after Netflix has been experimenting with ways to make up for lost revenue.
As previously reported by AfroTech, in March the company announced that it had started to test a new feature where it would charge users for password-sharing. According to estimates by Cowen & Co. analysts, if customers were to oblige, it could add $1.6 billion to the company’s revenue.
