On Tuesday (May 17), Netflix announced it was laying off 150 U.S.-based employees – another sign that the streaming giant has been hit hard by a recent decline in subscribers. Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter, which had not happened in over a decade. It’s expected to lose another two million in the second quarter.
Included in the cuts were agency employees for Con Todo, its Latine-focused social media and editorial team that promoted Netflix’s Latine content and talent and reached out to Latine audiences in creative ways for non-Latine projects. Con Todo produced content like the digital comedy sketch series Go Off and the podcast Brown Love.
“We are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly U.S.-based,” Netflix said in a statement. “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. We’re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition.”
A Netflix spokesperson stated that they will remain committed to communities like Con Todo. “We are making changes to how we support our publishing efforts, including bringing some of this important work in-house. Our social channels continue to grow and innovate, and we are investing heavily in them.”
Those who were part of Con Todo took to social media to say their goodbyes and talk about the experience they had working for Netflix and how they felt in seeing the company’s various diverse departments suffer. Along with Con Todo, Netflix laid-off employees from their social media channels that covered Black content (Strong Black Lead), Asian-American content (Golden), and LGBTQ content (Most).
“Here to share that I also got laid off from Netflix,” tweeted writer, director and video producer Steph Oh. “It was so fun to get to make Latine content with such a talented team of writers and managers at Con Todo. Sad it’s the end of an era but happy it happened tbh.”
Former Con Todo employee @Elle_Lo also shared her thoughts about working for the company for nearly two years.
“Had the pleasure of leading a beautiful team of writers/creatives & worked w/ some fierce managers who helped center Latinx experiences,” she tweeted. “Gonna miss chismeando & making magic w/ my bbs.”