Netflix has laid off 300 employees, as per an announcement by the streaming giant on Thursday. This is the second round of job cuts after the platform lost 200,000 subscribers globally, a decline for the first time in more than a decade.

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Earlier, the company had laid off 150 employees as measures to reduce costs.

Netflix had also terminated some contract workers and editorial staff from its Tudum site in April to balance its marketing budget after the subscriber loss.

These layoffs have predominantly affected the workforce in the US.

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Increased competition, the economy, the war in Ukraine, and account sharing beyond a household, were some of the reasons given by the company for the decline in subscribers.

After losing subscribers for the first time in a decade and projecting a 2 million decline in the upcoming quarter, Netflix said in April that it was seriously looking at advertising.

Now, on Thursday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that the streaming platform is in talks with several companies for advertising partnerships, as the streaming titan looks to plug slowing subscriber growth by rolling out a cheaper plan with ads.

"We're not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We're adding an ad tier for folks who say 'hey, I want a lower price and I'll watch ads'," Sarandos said at Cannes Lions.

Media reports from earlier this week said it was in discussions with Alphabet Inc's Google and Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal for potential marketing tie-ups.

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Netflix's most formidable challenger — Walt Disney Co's Disney+ — had also said it would introduce an ad-supported tier, as the pandemic boom in streaming fades, competition tightens and rising inflation pinches consumer spending on entertainment.

(With agency inputs)