Struggling entertainment site MySpace says it is cutting nearly half of its staff worldwide, or about 500 people, as a result of an extensive revamp in October that overhauled its look and allowed it to be run with fewer people. Mike Jones, the chief executive of MySpace, says cuts are “tough but necessary” and would put the site on a path to profitability while making it more nimble and entrepreneurial. MySpace declined to say how much money the cuts would save. A previous round of cuts in June 2009 eliminated 30% of its work force, or about 420 jobs.
The relaunch focused MySpace on giving its users, mostly aged 13 to 34, more ways to consume music, videos and celebrity gossip. Formerly, MySpace tried to be an all-purpose social networking site like Facebook. MySpace recently said it is no longer trying to compete with Facebook.
News Corp. bought the site in 2005 for $580 million, but it has continually lost money. In the three months through Sept. 30, the “other” segment housing MySpace lost $156 million, about $30 million more than the previous year, mostly because of lower search and ad revenue at MySpace.
