MySpace to Fire 2/3 of International Employees

MySpace has announced massive international layoffs, confirming earlier reports, and continuing the trend started with the restructuring of its US operations. The company plans to reduce its workforce of 1,800 by 700, with 30 percent of the US employees being let go and 66 percent of the staff outside the US sharing their fate.

“With roughly half of MySpace’s total user base coming from outside the U.S., maintaining productive and efficient operations in our international markets is important to users worldwide and our immediate financial strength,” MySpace Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta said. “As we conducted our review of the company, it was clear that internationally, just as in the U.S., MySpace's staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.”

The social networking giant has over 600 employees outside of the US and 450 of them will be fired in the near future. A number of international offices, at the very least four, will be closed altogether, with London, Berlin and Sydney becoming the hubs for its worldwide operations. All of its other offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain are under scrutiny and may be entirely scraped. Not affected by the restructuring are MySpace China, which is a locally owned venture, and the company's joint venture in Japan.

The layoffs come after last week's announcement that 30 percent of the US workforce would be terminated in an effort to streamline MySpace operations and return to a “startup culture.” A similar move was expected for its offices abroad, and an announcement may have been delayed due to Europe's stricter laws concerning employee rights.