Netflix’s U.K. layoffs have reached senior production leadership. Anna Mallett, the company’s vice president of physical production for the U.K. and local-language content across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is among the London staff affected, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Ankler was first to report her departure.
The London cuts follow the reduction Netflix announced Oct. 14, which eliminated about 1,000 jobs, or roughly 6% of its global staff.
Netflix named Mallett to the role in November 2020, and she started in April 2021 after leaving her job as CEO of ITN, the company that produces news for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. She previously was chief operating officer and managing director of production at BBC Studios. Deadline described her time at Netflix as a period of creative success in the region, with hits including “Baby Reindeer,” “Adolescence,” later seasons of “Money Heist” and its spinoff “Berlin.”
How far the Netflix U.K. layoffs reach
The London cuts affected about 2% to 3% of an office with several hundred employees, Deadline reported. That’s a smaller share than the roughly 6% Netflix cut worldwide.
Mallett wasn’t the only one to go. Deadline said others who left worked in areas such as PR and marketing, while Variety said the cuts included some publicity staff.
Globally, the company’s co-CEOs told employees that product, tech, legal and HR teams would feel the greatest impact. At about 1,000 jobs, it’s the largest layoff in Netflix history. The company cut about 450 jobs in 2022.
Why Netflix says it made the cuts
Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in their memo that Netflix needed to be “disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources.”
Peters expanded on that during the company’s Oct. 20 earnings call. He said Netflix had found “some areas that we built quickly” and ended up overinvesting in, and that “sometimes, the team needs a forcing function.”
A new content chief is in charge
The London news follows a major change at the top of the company’s content operation. Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s former chief content officer, left after about a decade, and film chief Dan Lin is also out. Peter Rice, a former Disney and Fox executive, took over as chief content officer Oct. 26. Rice will oversee film until Lin’s successor is named, Business Insider reported.
What it means for Netflix’s international shows
Netflix’s message so far is that its international content isn’t the problem. Asked on the earnings call what might change under Rice, Sarandos pointed to the U.S.
“Look, our business and our business flywheel are working. There is no need for a fundamental shift in the strategy. We do need better execution in the U.S.,” Sarandos said. He added that Netflix’s content around the world “is largely working.”
The issue, he said, is that the U.S. slate isn’t producing enough hits that travel.
“So we had some really solid doubles and triples this year. But the other territories count on some of those titles being home runs so that they’ll travel around the world,” Sarandos said.
That doesn’t settle the question for U.K. viewers or producers. Variety reported concerns that more shake-ups could follow, particularly in international output. Bajaria helped build the local-content teams behind much of that work, which makes Rice’s approach to them worth watching.
What’s next
So far, Netflix hasn’t announced any other changes to its U.K. operations. The next scheduled update is its January earnings report, when the company plans to issue 2027 guidance.
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