Confirmed: Myspace to slash 47% of workforce

Yesterday we caught rumours that ailing social network Myspace was preparing to announce significant job cuts, and today it’s official.

Cnet reports that Myspace is making the cuts “to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability.”

The troubled network recently relaunched as a more entertainment-focused website with a new logo that was designed to reflect “A platform for people to be whatever they want”. PaidContent places the percentage of workforce cut at 47%, amounting to around 500 staff.

In today’s statement, the company remains upbeat about the future, noting “Today’s tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability… These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product.”

Despite last year’s relaunch, Myspace still has an identity problem. With Facebook now the go-to place for your everyday social networking needs, who really needs Myspace? Even musicians, who stuck with the network after many other users moved on, have started to look elsewhere with services like SoundcCloud and Bandcamp rising in popularity. However, Myspace says since relaunch 3.3 million profiles have been created. How many of them will stick by the service remains to be seen.