As Netflix’s stock falls to its lowest level in five years, the company risks losing its most valuable asset: its star employees.
Working at Netflix has long been regarded as one of the most coveted jobs in Hollywood – if not all of corporate America.
The company is one of the most well-known brands, offers good salaries , and provides the opportunity to work with the people who revolutionized the way we watch television.
READ MORE: NETFLIX STOCK FALLS AS COMPANY PREDICTS SLOWER GROWTH
However, a record drop in Netflix’s share price, precipitated by the company’s poor financial results, has shaken employees’ faith in the company’s long-term trajectory.
More people are looking to leave Netflix right now than at any point in recent memory, current and former employees said this past week.
Netflix employees also asked leadership to issue new stock grants to make them whole for the losses this past week, per The Information.
Netflix has long emphasized its culture as the key to its success.
Reed Hastings, the co-founder, distributed a now-famous slide deck outlining the culture of freedom and responsibility, and wrote an entire book, “No Rules Rules,” to explain it to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Working at Netflix isn’t for everyone, but it’s ideal for an ambitious, driven executive.
Hastings and his co-CEO Ted Sarandos have struggled with how to preserve the company’s culture while scaling it.
Netflix’s workforce increased from around 2,000 at the end of 2013 to more than 11,000 at the end of last year.
Most of those new employees came from Hollywood and overseas, where corporate cultures are quite different from Silicon Valley. Netflix’s penchant for open debate didn’t always translate.
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This challenge will only get tougher now that the company is in cost-cutting mode. Bosses will be under even more pressure to deliver, and less willing to give their aides freedom to make slipups.
Netflix has said it isn’t going to hire as many people and will scrutinize spending. This is a company where you were supposed to be able to spend whatever you felt was necessary.
Netflix is already reshuffling teams in its engineering department to create levels – junior, senior and so on.
Many employees see this as a cost-cutting measure. Netflix has always been a relatively flat company. There are leaders at the very top, but many team members are on the same level.
The company didn’t frame the change like this. It said it was to help people’s career advancement.
Netflix still provides people with the opportunity to make a lot of money working for the world’s largest television network. It isn’t falling apart. It is roughly the size of Disney+ and HBO Max combined.
Source: Bloomberg
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