London, June 17: Leading social networking site
MySpace will be laying off 400 employees or about 30 per cent of its US workforce, says a media report.
"MySpace, once the world’s largest internet social
network, will cut its US workforce by 30 per cent, or about
400 employees, as it fights for relevance against stiff
competition from rival Facebook," British daily the Financial
Times said.
The company, owned by Rupert Murdoch`s News Corp, faces a
company-wide restructuring, which would include an evaluation
of its global operations. It would employ 1,000 in the US
after the cuts, the report said.
"Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and
hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble
team-oriented company," the daily said quoting MySpace Chief
Executive Officer Owen Van Natta.
MySpace was acquired by News Corp for USD 580 million in
2005.
"MySpace`s slow erosion has led some to second-guess
Murdoch`s initial vision, as the company has yet to harness
the power of the social network as a platform for his
company`s deep trove of films and television shows," the
report noted.
Attributing to comScore, the daily said, MySpace was the
largest US social network until last month, when it was
overtaken by Facebook.
According to the report, in the US, Facebook reached 70.28
million unique visitors, while MySpace reached 70.26 million.
Facebook overtook MySpace as the world`s most popular social
network last year.
Murdoch in March tapped Jonathan Miller, a former chief
executive of Time Warner`s AOL, to oversee the digital
strategies of the media conglomerate`s sprawling portfolio
with a focus on fixing MySpace, the daily noted.
Miller promptly replaced the senior executives of
MySpace, including its co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom
Anderson. In April, he hired Owen Van Natta, a former Facebook
chief operating officer, to lead MySpace`s recovery.
MySpace`s new leaders are now faced with the task to
slash costs with the vigour that characterised its three-year
global expansion, the Financial Times said.
"MySpace grew too big considering the realities of
today`s marketplace," said News Corp chief digital officer
Miller was quoted as saying.
"I believe this restructuring will help MySpace operate
much more effectively both structurally and financially moving
forward," Miller added.
Bureau Report
