MySpace To Send 30% Of Staff Packing
June 16th, 2009 • Featured, Internet
News Corp has announced that their social networking website, MySpace, will lose 30% of its staff in a bid to cut costs in its bid to remain popular with alternatives such as Facebook.
MySpace used to be the number one social networking website in the world, but has lost its spot to Facebook, who recently reached the 200 million member milestone. Although very different in nature, Twitter is also proving to be surrounded by more buzz than MySpace these days. Facing the tough competition, the decision was made to fire 30% of the staff (approx. 400 individuals), leaving 1000 employees behind.
According to the new MySpace chief executive, Owen Van Natta, the move was made to reinstate a culture that resembles one of a fresh new start-up.
“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered by our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,”
said Van Natta to Reuters.
Nobody inclined to comment when employees will be told whether they’ll be allowed to keep their jobs or not.
This comes at a time when Facebook has nearly more than three times the number of unique visitors per month when compared to MySpace, and news that Google wishes to renegotiate an advertising deal once the current contract expires next year.
There is serious doubt whether MySpace can turn their network around, which has become synonymous with badly designed profile pages as well as a platform of promotion for new musical artists. Here’s hoping for the best.
The announcement resulted in News Corp’s shares dropping by 4.2% to $9.41
UPDATE 1:
MySpace has announced their plans to lay off two thirds of their international workforce.
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