MySpace's Seattle operations hit in latest layoff

Seattle's once fast-growing MySpace operation appears to be one of the offices to take a hit in the company's layoff of 400 employees.

In a memo obtained by Alley Insider, Chief Executive Owen Van Natta -- a former Amazon.com executive -- said that all divisions of the company were affected in the 30 percent cut. And he said that he planned to discuss the restructuring and future direction of the company at the Seattle and San Francisco offices on Thursday.

Just 15 months ago, the social networking powerhouse was touting Seattle as a key operation in its battle to attain top talent. It  employed 60 people in Seattle as of last March, though at that time top executive Aber Whitcomb said they wanted to double that number.

"We chose Seattle because it is a hotbed for innovation and disruptive ideas," said Whitcomb. "It was a natural next step for our strategy of opening offices around the world."

It was unclear just how many people worked in the Seattle office as of this month.

We have calls into News Corp. -- MySpace's parent company -- to find out how many people are losing jobs in Seattle and the company's plans for the office.

MySpace has been losing share to Facebook and other sites, and is now looking at ways to fight back. From Van Natta's memo:

"These decisions are difficult for everyone, but especially for our friends and colleagues who contributed to MySpace’s success and are directly affected by the changes. Through no fault of theirs our company’s size became unsustainable. The future success of MySpace is dependent upon us operating as a nimble and entrepreneurial company with the adaptive mentality of a start-up."
 

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