iWorld
Netflix ropes in STXinternational’s David Kosse to lead new international film division
MUMBAI: After two high profile exits in the last few days, Netflix has reportedly roped STXinternational’s David Kosse to lead its new international film division. Kosse will be focusing particularly on significant non-English-language films along with overseeing all international production and acquisition for the streaming giant in his role as international film VP.
According to reports, Kosse will report to Universal alum Scott Stuber. “We want to make significant movies which will have a big impact in major markets such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain but which can also travel to our subscribers around the world. Movies such as Roma and Intouchables. The focus right now for this division is to establish the foreign language movies in the same way Netflix has established series that have travelled,” Kosse commented as quoted by Deadline.
Teresa Moneo, director of international film and Funa Maduka, director of international film and acquisitions will join Kosse in the Netflix London office. As he has spent his career launching and building international film divisions, the move is expected to boost the company’s international film presence.
Last week, Netflix CMO Kelly Bennet announced his exit from the company after a stint of seven years. Bennet led Netflix’s marketing efforts at a time when its subscriber base grew exponentially. He also played a very important role in the marketing of original content of the platform. Erik Barmack, Netflix’s current vice-president for international originals, is also leaving the company after an eight-year stint.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
