- Netflix cut 70 roles in its animation studio and 60-70 in social media in addition to 150 full-timer layoffs.
- The streamer also axed or delayed some animation projects, including one based on Roald Dahl's "Matilda."
- The cuts and layoffs come as Netflix faces subscriber losses and new competition in streaming.
In addition to layoffs of 150 full-time Netflix employees on Tuesday, the company has cut another 70 workers from its animation studio as several planned animated series and films have gotten the axe. The streamer also let go of 60 to 70 contractors working for Netflix's social media and publishing channels, including Strong Black Lead, Asian American-focused Golden, Latinx-focused Con Todo, and LGBTQ-focused Most.
Among the animated projects not moving forward, as Variety first reported: the Ava DuVernay-produced series "Wings of Fire," "With Kind Regards from Kindergarten," and "Antiracist Baby," the last of which is based on the Dr. Ibram X. Kendi children's book. The animation roles, including writers and crew members, were not full-time but related to the projects that had been scrapped.
Additionally, Insider has learned that several animation projects have been sent back to development, including the highly anticipated "Matilda" animated series, based on the Roald Dahl novel. Netflix's September acquisition of the Dahl catalog was a key IP acquisition for the company in the children's space.
Furthermore, dozens of writers and contractors for the streamer's social media channels and editorial verticals have been let go, including some at fan site Tudum, which saw a previous round of contractor job cuts in April.
"I moved into a new apartment that I'm now trying to figure out how to afford," one Netflix contractor who was laid off today told Insider.
The wide layoffs, while a fraction of Netflix's 11,000-person staff worldwide, raise alarm bells for those watching the streamer's business and follow smaller personnel reductions over the last month. In April, Netflix laid off 25 full-time staffers in marketing, in addition to nearly a dozen workers at Tudum, which launched in December.
The 150 full-timers impacted on Tuesday worked across divisions, with Deadline reporting that some original content executives were swept up in the layoffs.
A string of bad news has dogged Netflix, and the layoffs follow a particularly rough first-quarter earnings report that revealed the loss off 200,000 subscribers and forecast another 2 million of its 221 million subscribers would leave the service in the current fiscal quarter.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.