Is the end MySpace near?
For nearly one-half of all MySpace staffers, the end has already come, as 47% of the social network’s entire workforce as been handed walking papers.
Bloomberg News is reporting that the popular social network is letting go of some 500 employees in a “broad restructuring across all of its operations.”
The report notes that MySpace will enter into local partnerships across Europe and Australia to manage advertising and content.
“Today’s tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Jones revealed in a public statement. “These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product.”
Despite MySpace’s “legacy” in the realm of social networks, the likes of Facebook and Twitter have done a collective one-two punch on MySpace to such a degree in recent years that MySpace is perceived by many to be incapable of defending itself. As a result, sweeping changes are in order to preserve the viability of the social network moving forward.
After the restructuring, the report adds, MySpace will be put up for sale.
Alan Gould, an analyst with Evercore Partners, tells Bloomberg that News Corp. will most likely shutter MySpace by June “unless we see a remarkable turnaround in the next few months.”