After redesigning their profile pages in an attempt to reinvent themselves, Myspace has just announced that they are laying almost half of their workforce.
Today Myspace is implementing a significant organizational restructuring that will result in a 47 percent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees. With our recent relaunch as an entertainment destination for Gen Y, we introduced a much tighter focus, a significantly streamlined product and an updated technology platform.
In international, Myspace, Inc. will be entering into strategic local partnerships in the UK, Germany and Australia to manage advertising sales and content. (paidContent)
“Coincidently” Myspace seemed to have timed the layoff announcent during the debut of the Verizon iPhone (which was also noted by other bloggers as well).
While the economy is partially to blame for Myspace’s woes, truth be told Facebook’s surging growth in the US and abroad is the larger culprit.
Despite the declining market share and mind share, Myspace could potentially save themselves from extinction by being acquired by either Microsoft or Google (the latter who is desperately trying to enter the social scene).
Although Myspace is far from irrelevant (after all, it’s listed as the 25th most popular site in the US according to Quantcast), the company needs to quickly find a way to slow the bleeding lest they join Geocities and the dinosaurs on the extinction list.
