News Corp owned social network, Myspace, announced on Tuesday it is cutting approximately 500 jobs – almost half of their staff, as leading social network provider Facebook gains global domination.
“Today’s tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability,” Myspace Chief Executive Officer Mike Jones said in a statement.
“The new organizational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side,” Jones said.
He said the restructuring would “result in a 47 per cent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees.”
According to Ninemsn, News Corp bought Myspace in 2005 for $580 million. Since then, Myspace membership numbers have dwindled while Facebook has grown to more than 500 million members.
Myspace Chief Operating Officer has reportedly said with tens of millions of users, Myspace still “has the potential to be an exciting business for us” but “we need to make real headway in the coming quarters to get the business to a sustainable level.”
In the last couple of months, Myspace has released numerous press releases about developments to their website as they re-brand themselves as a Gen Y social entertainment destination.
Jones advised Ninemsn “while it’s still early days, the new Myspace is trending positively and the good news is we have already seen an up-tick in returning and new users.”
Jones advised the layoffs were “purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product.”
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