layoffs Tag

Layoff Updates in the World of Social Networking

While layoff rumors abound in this economic climate, there is one company that has been hit particularly hard—MySpace. While they are a household name in social networking, MySpace can’t seem to justify being second best to Facebook—the more rapidly growing and popular of the two networking powerhouses. And the severity of the potential layoffs at MySpace makes that very clear.

The company, after all, has been the center of many speculations regarding their staff. One source used the word “massive” to describe the as of yet unproven layoffs, while a different source actually went so far as to put a number on that generic (albeit frightening) word. This alternate source placed the layoffs at anywhere between 300 and 500 employees.

Many believe these talks and the subsequent actions will help appease the already concerned shareholders. Despite a 2.39% jump in unique visitors during April and a report that puts them ahead of Facebook for videos, MySpace has been steadily losing the battle of social media dominance. And apparently, in today’s climate, that’s simply not good enough to justify a full staff.

Internet Giants Undergo Tumultuous Staff Changes

There’s little debate that two of the most well known names in internet business are Google and Yahoo. These internet titans proved recently, however, that even they aren’t immune to layoffs, cutbacks, and employee shakeups.

For Google, this means they will be saying goodbye to David Rosenblatt. The former CEO of DoubleClick, Rosenblatt had been at Google less than a year before calling it quits. Rosenblatt hasn’t announced his next destination yet, but the fact that Google appears to be having trouble holding onto key creative players should cause people to pause and ask if things at Google are as rock solid as they appear from the outside.

And Yahoo isn’t faring much better. They have instigated some sizable cuts to their staff, giving the dreaded pink slip to about 600 employees. Although Yahoo projected 680 cuts in its first quarter reports, there’s still little doubt that following through with layoffs is far worse than simply projecting layoffs.

Morale, therefore, at both companies is sure to be at an all-time low, which puts them squarely in line with just about every other layoff-ridden, profit-decreased company out there right now.

Yahoo Makes Cuts and Company Changes

Yahoo is one of the most established internet presences, and this has been a busy week for the online-centered business. While one move represents a company improvement, another feels like a step backwards.

The first change marks the company’s concerted effort to improve the spam filter on its mail service. Spearheading the campaign is Mark Risher, who has been aptly named the “anti-spam czar.” The new effort teams Yahoo’s research department with several universities in order to more effectively block spam in its mail service. Even with this new effort, Yahoo still urges their mail users to manually mark when spam messages get through to the inbox or legitimate messages get sent to the spam folder with the “spam” or “not spam” buttons.

The second company change actually speaks to the larger economic climate. After recently opening a research and development facility in France, Yahoo has announced that roughly 20% of the French department will receive the dreaded pink slip. These announced layoffs will reduce the French department from 251 employees to 199 employees.

Blogging Killed the Newspaper Star

In 1979, the Buggles informed the world that video killed the radio star. Now, the question facing our generation is whether blogging will kill the newspaper star. As the catchy pop song taught us, the golden age of technology past is inevitably swept away for the glitz and glamour of the new.

In terms of print newspapers, this is beginning to ring eerily true. Even some of the most established newspaper conglomerates aren’t immune to the effects of online news sources. The New York Times, for example, has experienced a series of layoffs, increased prices at the newsstand, decreased readership, and stock market woes.
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