MySpace rumored slashing 75% of its staff
updated 10:05 am EDT, Tue June 28, 2011
Sale also expected this week
Myspace is rumored to be cutting up to 300 employees from its workforce over the next few weeks. TechCrunch reports that 150 employees will receive pink slips tomorrow and probably another 150 will be shown the door over the next few weeks. This comes as the struggling company could have a new owner as soon as tomorrow.
MySpace currently has about 400 employees. The 300 cuts represent a 75 percent reduction in force, leaving about 100 workers. This is in addition to the 340 employees company let go in January. Since the start of the year, the number of employees will have dropped from 740 to 100 or by about 86.5 percent.
News Corp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million. Since then, it has faced intense competition from sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Last quarter, it reported a loss of $165 million. The number of unique visitors for April, the last month reported on, dropped to 37.1 million, a decrease of 46 percent.
In April, News Corp, put its social networking subsidiary on the auction block, looking for a partnership or a straight divestiture. TechCrunch speculates that a deal to sell the company may be reached as soon as tomorrow and announced Friday. Rumored potential buyers include Buzzmedia, Living Social, and a consortium led by Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision.
