MySpace cuts jobs in change of culture

Jun 18 2009 By The Journal

ONLINE networking site MySpace is cutting nearly 30% of its workforce to make it more efficient.

The cuts amount to about 420 people, bringing the total number of MySpace’s staff to 1,000 at the struggling unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

MySpace said it wanted to return to the culture of a start-up company.

The move comes less than two months after Beverly Hills-based MySpace appointed a new chief executive, Owen Van Natta, a former executive from rival Facebook.

MySpace said the restructuring crosses all of its US divisions.

While has about 125 million users, has been hit hard by the huge popularity of rival networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Mr Van Natta called the previous staffing levels "bloated."

Last month, Facebook had about 850 employees worldwide.

News Corporation’s head of digital media Jonathan Miller added that the company had grown "too big considering the realities of today’s marketplace."

His job is to reinvigorate the site in the face of increasing competition. Facebook, for example, has considerably more users worldwide, despite being launched more recently.

The new boss said his aim was to "return to an environment of innovation."

Analyst Debra Williamson at eMarketer said the "very aggressive move" and was designed "to send a message to the marketplace that they’re really taking the turnaround of MySpace seriously.

"30% is more than a haircut. It’s chopping the head off," she added.