In a new
episode of "we make millions, but you still go to the streets," Crunchyroll has
decided that the best way to celebrate its undeniable monopoly on the anime
industry is by laying off more workers. Between March 9 and 10, 2026, a new
wave of employees began announcing on social media that they had lost their
jobs, marking the company's second round of mass layoffs in less than six
months.
The
classic corporate excuse of "restructuring"
What is the
official justification this time? The platform claims that it needs to change
its way of operating to focus on regions where anime consumption is exploding,
pointing directly to Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia. To
achieve this supposed expansion, they decided that the most logical thing to do
was to decapitate entire teams in specific areas: human resources, the
engineers in charge of improving the (already deficient) application and
website, and the staff who manage the otaku merchandise e-commerce.
Although
the exact numbers of this labor massacre have not yet been made public, the cut
is estimated to be about one-seventh or one-eighth of the brutal mass layoff
that occurred in August 2025 (where hundreds of people lost their livelihoods).
17
million subscribers are not enough
What
outrages the community the most is the total disconnect between the company's
financial success and the treatment of its employees. Crunchyroll proudly
boasts more than 17 million paying subscribers and the executives
have made it very clear that these layoffs are not due to lack of money,
but due to a "change of approach". Basically, they're moving roles to
emerging regions (likely where labor is much cheaper) to keep inflating their
profit margins under Sony's umbrella.
For users'
peace of mind, the company assured that the streaming service
will not suffer interruptions or notable changes, although the online
merchandise store could experience some "adjustments" while they
finish reorganizing the rubble of their apartments.
