Netflix Legend Behind ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Sabrina’ Is Officially Out

Netflix has reportedly laid off four of its top executives, including the legendary Carolina Garcia (via THR). The news comes amidst the streamer’s biggest layoff since 2022, which is set to reduce 6% of the company’s total workforce. Garcia was the director of the original series division and handled top shows like Stranger Things and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The year is reportedly tough on the streamer as it lost out on a bid for Warner Bros., which recently merged with Paramount and became part of the Skydance Group. CEO Ted Sarandos also revealed recently that the growth rate of the streamer has been slower than expected. Does this spell trouble for the streaming giant? Read on to know more.

Netflix Fired Top Executives In Recent Company-Wide Layoff

The cast of Stranger Things | Credits: Netflix

About 1000 Netflix employees lost their jobs after a company-wide layoff this year, which was the biggest staff reduction in the company since 2022. According to THR, a 6% reduction was the plan, and the layoffs included some of the top executives of the streamer, including Stranger Things’ Carolina Garcia.

Other top executives who were laid off were Lisa Lang McMullen, James Oh, and Andrew McQuinn. McMullen was the director of overall deals and series at Netflix, while James Oh was in charge of drama series. Garcia shared her position as the Director of Original Series with Andrew McQuinn. Other positions like manager of original series, manager of adult animation, and manager of original animation were also let go.

The reduction was reportedly aimed at product, tech, legal, and HR teams. Garcia was one of the top brass of the streamer and was in charge of some of its biggest shows. She handled talent like the Duffer Brothers and Brian Yorkey, and handled deals with Jennifer Lopez and Shawn Levy’s production houses. Before Netflix, she was reportedly at 20th Century Fox for nine years (via Carolina Groppa).

Stranger Things was one of the biggest shows for the streamer, and one of its first originals to hit it big with viewers. It concluded in 2025, and the Duffer Brothers have already developed more shows, like The Boroughs with Netflix. It is unclear whether the firing would affect these relationships, but the streamer seemed to be in dire need of restructuring.

Netflix CEO Admitted Slow Growth in 2026

Credits: Netflix

The massive layoffs at Netflix come along with a recent admission by CEO Ted Sarandos that the streaming platform has seen slow growth in the year. Speaking at Bloomberg’s 2026 Screentime Event. Sarandos mentioned that the company was working on growing faster (via THR). The layoffs might be one of the ways in which it allocates resources properly.

Sarandos revealed that the recent moves by Netflix to get into live programming, for which it reportedly invested $20 billion annually, did not have a good enough ROI (reportedly 1%). While he mentioned that there were a lot of signups and the future was still bright, the current situation seems to be grim.

Overall, we’re not growing as fast as I want us to, and we’re working on making that move faster…The business is great and growing fine.

The streamer is still reportedly expanding, though not at the pace that is expected. Fortune reported that stock prices were down by 22% this year and 42% over the last 12 months. 2026 has been a great year for cinema, with films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Obsession, and Backrooms bringing back the theatrical crowd and earning billions. The year still has Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three on the horizon.

While a few years ago Sarandos claimed that the future was built on streaming, the company’s performance does not seem to reflect that sentiment. They are even allowing more traditional releases, including The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth and Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, both receiving theatrical releases before their streaming debut.

What do you think about Netflix’s future? Comment below.