MySpace has cut nearly 47% of its workforce in a desperate bid to keep afloat. Following dramatic declines in both advertising revenue and internet traffic, MySpace CEO Mike Jones said that the ailing company will undergo a "significant organisational restructuring that will result in a 47% staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees”, reported CNET. "[The] tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability,” Jones continued. "These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product.”"The new organisational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side,” Jones said. "We are also committed to rebuilding the company with an entrepreneurial culture and an emphasis on technical innovation.”Rumours that MySpace was contemplating layoffs had been circulating since December 2010, following a radical shift in MySpace’s business plan, in which it has attempted to rebrand itself as an entertainment hub.As MySpace has lost more and more of its customer base to Facebook, the former social-networking giant has attempted to reinvent itself as a media hub, specialising in music promotion. Remaining optimistic about the MySpace redesign, Jones said that "since the worldwide rollout of the new MySpace, there have been more than 3.3 million new profiles created”. "We have already seen a rise of four percent in mobile users just between November to December, now totalling over 22 million.”In addition to turning its attention to media sharing, last November MySpace also unveiled ‘Mashup with Facebook’, a new feature that allows MySpace users to create a personalised stream of content.The rumour mill continues to turn, with Yahoo being suggested as one potential buyer for the struggling social network.
