MySpace Slashes 47 Percent Of Staff; Nearly 500 Employees Given Pink Slips

Things only seem to be getting worse for MySpace. Amid reports that the troubled social network is for sale by parent company News Corp., MySpace has just announced massive layoffs at the company. According to PaidContent, MySpace has cut 47 percent of its staff or nearly 500 employees.

Apparently, CEO Mike Jones said the cuts were necessary to “provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability.” On a side note, that could be the most-used sentence in press releases announcing massive layoffs.

MySpace has been on a steady decline in terms of revenues and mindshare and traffic. The social network is even clinging on to rapidly growing rival Facebook in an effort to stay relevant despite a recent, deep redesign and a new mobile site and apps. One a more positive note, MySpace recently renewed its search and advertising relationship with Google.

Also does anyone think it’s odd that layoffs were announced in the midst of Verizon-iPhone hoopla? Yikes.