Whenever a company lays off 500 people, as MySpace did earlier this week when it gave half its employees walking papers, it generates quite a bit of anger and bitterness. The latest tip in our inbox from a dispirited former employee goes into a details about do-nothing managers who still have their jobs while all their underlings are now unemployed.
I won’t repeat the character assassinations here, but the former MySpacer did include something else I will share: The kiss-off letter from CEO Mike Jones. “He didn’t even take the time to personally sign the letters. It’s just a xerox copy,” laments the former employee. You can read the termination letter below. It is pretty standard, thanking those being laid off for their “dedication and commitment to MySpace” especially through its recent relaunch.
This is the part, though that must really rankle:
Although we can’t continue on this journey together—I hope you will all stay connected with MySpace and know that your contribution to the business was a unique moment in time and that you participated in something that few have been part of in our industry.
And what exactly was that? Dressing up MySpace for a sale, and then getting rid of half the employees to make its declining financials look a little more appetizing? Yeah, special times.
MySpace is one of the world’s largest social networks, with about 125 million users. Originally inspired by Friendster, MySpace quickly grew to become the world’s largest social network, before being overtaken by Facebook. User pages are highly customizable and support integration with widgets such as Slide or YouTube. MySpace provides users with a way to connect around content and culture. MySpace was started as a side project of the internet marketing company eUniverse (now called Intermix Media) in August...
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