Netflix layoffs: TV executives Lisa Lang McMullen, James Oh among those cut

# Netflix Layoffs Affect 1,000 Employees, Including Several Senior Television Executives

Netflix has laid off approximately 1,000 employees, with cuts having a significant impact on its product, technology, legal and human resources departments. The workforce reduction has also affected several television executives responsible for developing and managing original programming, including Lisa Lang McMullen, James Oh, Carolina Garcia and Andrew McQuinn.

McMullen most recently served as director of overall deals and series at Netflix, while Oh held the position of director of drama series. Garcia and McQuinn were both directors of original series. Other employees affected by the cuts include Jason Pan, manager of original series; Aaron Davidson, manager of adult animation comedy; and Dan Evans, manager of original animation.

McMullen joined Netflix in 2021 as director of drama series after spending 12 years at Disney. Oh also became director of drama series at Netflix in 2021, following a stint as senior vice president at Jerry Bruckheimer Television.

McQuinn joined Netflix in 2018 as director of original series. During his tenure, he worked on productions including *American Primeval*, *Griselda* and *Zero Day*, as well as the upcoming *Assassin’s Creed* series. Before joining the streaming company, he worked at ABC Signature.

Garcia, a Netflix veteran of approximately 10 years, joined the company in 2016. Her work has included series such as *Stranger Things*, *The Boroughs* and *The Perfect Couple*. Before moving to Netflix, she worked at 20th Century Fox Television.

The job cuts were communicated to employees through an email from Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. The executives said the company remained financially strong and intended to continue investing in areas expected to generate the greatest impact.

“Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full year forecast. We’ll continue to invest aggressively in high impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation,” Sarandos and Peters said.

They added that achieving those goals required the company to make focused decisions about how resources were allocated across its operations, while continuing to serve its members, partners, employees and investors.

According to *The Wall Street Journal*, the co-CEOs reiterated that Netflix planned to maintain investment in priority areas while making targeted adjustments across the business. They also reaffirmed that the company remained on course to meet its full-year earnings forecast.

The layoffs come as Netflix continues to search for its next major television phenomenon—one capable of generating the cultural influence and widespread audience attention associated with titles such as *Stranger Things*, *Squid Game*, *Bridgerton*, *The Queen’s Gambit*, *Wednesday* and *Baby Reindeer*.

A report by *Deadline* identified *Adolescence*, released roughly a year and a half earlier, as the platform’s most recent series to achieve a comparable level of cultural impact. However, Netflix has also recorded successes this year, including its latest Harlan Coben adaptation, *I Will Find You*, which entered the platform’s Most Popular English-language series ranking, and the limited series *His & Hers*.

At the same time, the report noted that several returning Netflix shows have experienced declining viewership from one season to the next. The executive departures and wider workforce reductions therefore come amid an ongoing effort to allocate resources strategically, sustain audience engagement and develop new original productions that can deliver significant commercial and cultural results.