Around the Net

More Massacring At MySpace

  • Gawker, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:42 AM
Already a shadow if its former self, MySpace reportedly plans to layoff nearly 40% of its remaining staff -- or about 150 employees -- this week. Since confirmed by TechCrunch, the news was first reported by Gawker's Ryan Tate. How bad have things gotten at the once reigning social network?

Well, "Scary as [the massacre] sounds, some employees are apparently looking forward to the layoffs," one source tells Tate. "Apparently, everyone is expecting it, and actually hoping for it," the "MySpace veteran" said. "I think the management owes the employees severance because of the terrible management mistakes they presided over." According to Tate, however, "MySpace's parent company is likely to be motivated more by self-interest than mercy, which has fueled speculation in hallways and in MySpace's virtual Campfire chat rooms that MySpace is being slimmed down to make it more attractive to a potential buyer -- lower costs and all that."

Largely perceived as an effort to gussy up the company, MySpace laid off 47% of its staff -- or 500 people -- in January. "The slimming and a relaunch as a content portal didn't make MySpace attractive to buyers," according to Tate. "News Corp. ended up with just one potential bidder for the site after six months on the market, and even that company wasn't willing to pay anywhere near the stated minimum price."

Read the whole story at Gawker »

Next story loading loading..