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MySpace Slashes Staff By Half

By mike, Jan 12 in blog with 0 comments

MySpace plans to slash its workforce by nearly half amid reports that owner News Corp. is preparing to sell the money-losing social network.

MySpace chief executive Mike Jones said Tuesday that the site was starting a "significant organizational restructuring" that would result in a 47% reduction in staff, or about 500 employees. The company employs 1,100 people worldwide.

All Things Digital, the tech site of The Wall Street Journal, has reported that News Corp. executives are making the cuts before they start shopping the site to private-equity buyers. Yahoo also could be approached, the site said. The Wall Street Journal is also owned by News Corp.

MySpace says the layoffs are the result of the site’s recent switch from a social network focused around communications between people to an entertainment site for young adults who enjoy discussing and sharing music and video from their favorite artists. A redesigned MySpace was launched last October.

"The new organizational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side," Jones says.

MySpace claims it has seen an uptick in new and returning users since the redesign, saying more than 3.3 million new profiles have been created. The site also says it has seen a 4% increase in mobile users, which total more than 22 million.

Nevertheless, MySpace’s financial performance hasn’t been good. The News Corp. division responsible for MySpace reported an operating loss of $156 million in the quarter ended last Sept. 30, mainly due to losses from the site. Chase Carey, chief operating officer for MySpace, told analysts in October that the site’s losses were not "acceptable or sustainable."

"Our current management did not create these losses, but they know we have to address them. We judge in quarters, not in years," Carey said.

News Corp. bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, while Facebook was just a fast-growing upstart. Today, MySpace has about a third of the number of monthly visitor as Facebook, according to ComScore.

Story by By Antone Gonsalves , InformationWeek

About the author

Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years. Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns. His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.