Netflix Layoffs 2026 Explained: What the Shake-Up Means for Anime

The Netflix layoffs of October 2026 cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 6% of the company, and came with a new head of content: former Disney TV chief Peter Rice replaces Bela Bajaria on October 26. Two days ago, on October 20, Netflix's third-quarter results showed why: revenue growth at its slowest in three years and people watching less per account. Anime is one of the few areas where Netflix's own numbers keep going up, so here's what the shake-up means for Netflix anime, including the MAPPA deal.

What Happened at Netflix in October 2026?

Netflix made three big moves in one week. Here they are in order:

The memo to staff said "our business is strong and growing", which raises the obvious question.

Why Is Netflix Laying Off 1,000 Employees?

Netflix is still making a lot of money, but its viewers are watching less. The third-quarter numbers from October 20:

• Revenue: $12.87 billion, up 11.8% from a year earlier. Variety notes that is the slowest growth in three years, down from 17% a year ago.
• Profit: $3.66 billion in net income, with a 34.6% operating margin.
• Ads: Netflix lowered its 2026 ad revenue forecast from $3 billion to about $2.7 billion.
• Viewing per member: Jefferies analysts estimate the average member watched about 66 hours a month in the first half of 2023, and about 49 hours in the first half of 2026.
• Competition: in Nielsen data for July 2026, YouTube had 14.2% of all U.S. connected-TV viewing to Netflix's 7.8%, according to What's on Netflix.

In its letter to shareholders, Netflix admitted "there's some investor concern about our view hours growth" and said the job cuts will cost about 1.2 percentage points of operating margin in the fourth quarter. Asked on the earnings call why he replaced Bajaria, Sarandos praised her but said, "I know that we could do better." The cuts are about putting money where viewing is growing, and that brings us to anime.

Did the Netflix Layoffs Hit Anime?

Not as far as anyone has reported. The Hollywood Reporter, via Cartoon Brew, named two animation executives among those let go: Dan Evans, manager of original animation, and Aaron Davidson, manager of adult animation comedy. Both roles were on the Western animation side. As of October 22, there have been no reports of cuts to Netflix's Japan content team, which is led by vice president Kaata Sakamoto and handles anime.

That fits Netflix's own numbers. Anime is one of its best-performing categories:

• More than half of Netflix members watch anime, and anime viewing on Netflix has tripled in five years.
• Anime titles on Netflix were viewed over 1 billion times in 2024 alone.
• Japanese content, anime included, is the second most-watched on Netflix after English-language titles.

Cutting a part of the service that keeps growing would go against the whole point of the restructuring. The clearest sign of how much Netflix is betting on anime is its deal with MAPPA.

What Is the Netflix MAPPA Deal?

On January 21, 2026, Netflix announced an expanded partnership with MAPPA, the studio behind Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen. Under the deal:

• A slate of original MAPPA anime will stream exclusively on Netflix, worldwide, on the same day.
• The two companies work together "from story development to merchandise".
• According to The Hollywood Reporter, the projects run outside Japan's usual production committee system, where publishers, TV networks and toy makers share the cost and the decisions. Here, MAPPA and Netflix share both.

Netflix already streams MAPPA's Ranma 1/2 and Kakegurui Twin, and says multiple new projects are in planning and production. MAPPA joins a long list of Netflix studio partners: Production I.G and BONES (2018), Anima, Sublimation and David Production (2019), and NAZ and Science SARU (2022). These are multi-year deals with studios, so a change at the top of Netflix's content team in California doesn't undo them overnight. What could change is the kind of anime Netflix pays for next.

What Could Peter Rice Change for Netflix Anime?

Rice has no public track record with anime, so any answer is an educated guess. Here's what we know about him:

• He was chairman of Walt Disney Television, overseeing ABC, FX and Hulu, which produced hits like The Bear and Shōgun, a drama set in feudal Japan.
• Before that he ran Fox Searchlight, the label behind Slumdog Millionaire and Juno.
• Puck, as reported by What's on Netflix, describes him as talent-friendly and prestige-leaning, compared with Bajaria's broader, high-volume approach.

If that holds, Netflix could make fewer anime and spend more on each one, which would suit studio partnerships like MAPPA's. The risk is the middle of the catalog: smaller exclusives and licensed shows that are cheap to drop. There is a precedent, too. During its 2022 layoffs, Netflix also dropped several Western animated projects in development, including Bone and Wings of Fire, though it said those were creative decisions, not cost cuts. Anime has more momentum now than Western animation did then, and Netflix needs it to compete with Sony's Crunchyroll, which just added its own Storyworks division. Still, the first anime announcements under Rice will be the ones to watch. Here's my take on the bigger picture.

Kairo's Take

It feels like Netflix is officially ending its "growth at all costs" era and scrambling to fix deep structural issues. Firing Bela Bajaria and replacing her with Peter Rice right alongside cutting 1,000 jobs makes it obvious that internal leadership knows the platform has a content problem. For years, Netflix relied on throwing endless cash at the wall, with what's been called its "gourmet cheeseburger" approach, flooding the catalog with low-risk, disposable original shows to keep subscribers scrolling. But with viewing per member falling, especially in the U.S., and free video like YouTube eating into screen time, that model is running on fumes. Outside of a surprise like KPop Demon Hunters, they haven't had a massive cultural phenomenon on the level of Stranger Things or Squid Game in a long time, and users are feeling the burnout.

For more on the business of anime, read about Sony and Crunchyroll Storyworks, why anime studios are going bankrupt and how much anime animators make, or browse the latest anime news.

Sources: Netflix Q3 2026 shareholder letter, Variety (earnings, executive exits, Jefferies estimate), What's on Netflix (timeline, Puck and Nielsen figures), Cartoon Brew (animation layoffs, staff memo), Netflix newsroom (MAPPA deal, anime viewing figures), Cartoon Brew (MAPPA deal structure), Anime News Network (Netflix studio partners), Cartoon Brew (2022 animation cuts). Cover photo: Netflix office at 101 Albright Way, Los Gatos, by Coolcaesar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.