MySpace eyes major staff cuts: reports

Georg Szalai

NEW YORK, USA: MySpace is preparing to unveil a major round of layoffs as early as this month in its latest restructuring step, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The social-networking site has roughly 1,100 employees, but the report didn't detail the amount of likely job cuts. Both MySpace and the Wall Street Journal are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

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CNBC reporter Julia Boorstin said the network is eyeing cuts of around 50 per cent of its workforce. A MySpace spokeswoman wouldn't comment.

MySpace recently redesigned its site to emphasize the discovery of entertainment content, such as music, comedy and games. It also renewed a search deal with Google, but at a lower guaranteed price.

In an earnings conference call in November, News Corp. deputy chairman, president and COO Chase Carey had said that MySpace has quarters rather than years to turn around and signaled a possible sale if improvements don't materialize. The Journal said no talks are currently taking place, but Boorstin said there have been some meetings related to a possible sale that could happen by mid-year.