Netflix to cut back on new features as staff work from home during lockdown
Company will focus on updates that ‘add meaningful value’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Netflix will cut back on new features as it staff work from home, it has said.
While the company will still roll out updates that “add meaningful value” it will try out less experimental innovations as it copes with coronavirus lockdowns across the world.
Like all large companies, Netflix has been hit hard by the fallout from the pandemic. It has been forced to stop production on shows and run its customer service operations from home, it said.
But it has also seen a huge growth in subscribers as users look to find new shows and films to stream from home.
In its latest letter to shareholders, it said that it was changing the kinds of features that might be released as it looks to ensure that its staff can cope with working from home.
Noting that its programming has allowed people to get a sense of “comfort and escape”, it said that it had been looking to maintain “the quality of our service while our employees around the world adapt to working from home”.
“Our product teams, for example, have been relatively unaffected,” Netflix’s letter to shareholders reads. “As a precaution, we have temporarily reduced the number of product innovations we try, while continuing to release features that we know will add meaningful value for our members.”
Recently, Netflix has added new features including updates parental control features that allow adults to control what children watch, and top 10s that highlight the most popular shows in any given country. It did not specify whether such updates would be included in the changes, or what might no longer make its way to subscribers.
The company did say that it was seeing “significant disruption when it comes to customer support and content production”. It has mostly fixed the problems with customer services and has hired 2,000 more agents to cope with the increased demand, it said, but almost all filming has now stopped except in select countries such as Korea and Iceland.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments