MySpace Cuts Overseas Operations, Two Thirds of Staff Axed

After announcing last week that it would lay off up to a third of its staff in the U.S., MySpace now plans to reduce its international headcount by two thirds, down from 450 to just 150 people.

The News Corp.-owned social network says it will operate from three major “hubs” located in London, Berlin, and Sydney. MySpace offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain are under review for restructure, and possible closure. However, the firm’s offices in China and Japan will not be affected by the cutbacks. It is unclear how the staff reductions will affect the company’s international ad sales teams.

In a company statement, MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta said the move was prompted by the current financial climate. “As we conducted our review of the company, it was clear that internationally, just as in the U.S., MySpace’s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy,” he said.

MySpace’s user base recently fell behind that of chief rival Facebook in the U.S. Research firm ComScore said Facebook had 70.28 million unique U.S. visitors in May, compared with MySpace’s 70.26 million. News Corp. has taken steps designed to make the site more competitive, including the replacement of founder Chris DeWolfe by former Facebooker Van Natta in April.

Van Natta said the staffing changes were “painful,” but “necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace.”