• CNet, Tuesday, January 11, 2011 1:24 PM

Following months of rumors and speculation, MySpace CEO Mike Jones on Tuesday announced: "significant organizational restructuring that will result in a 47 percent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees." As many predicted -- and as CNet notes -- the once high-flying social network is couching the layoffs as part of a strategy to reposition itself for growth. "Today's tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability," Jones said.

Regarding the company's recent redesign, Jones added: "These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product." Since the worldwide rollout of the new MySpace, there have been more than 3.3 million new profiles created, according to Jones. Not mentioned is how many users deserted the site during the same time frame, or how the relative growth measures up to previous months and years. Also of note, "We have already seen a rise of four percent in mobile users just between November to December, now totaling over 22 million," according to Jones.

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