MySpace to close Oz ops in order to cut 500 jobs

Melbourne, Jan 12 (ANI): Social networking website MySpace has decided to close its Australian office as part of its move to cut 500 jobs - or nearly half its staff - potentially setting the stage for a sale of the social network owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

In a statement, MySpace chief executive Mike Jones said that the company would enter into strategic local partnerships to manage advertising sales and content in Australia, with details of partners yet to be finalised. He said the company would retain a core international team to work with partners, reports the Age.

A spokesperson for IGN Entertainment Australia - an online publisher that operates alongside MySpace under the Fox Interactive Media business umbrella - said: "IGN Entertainment Australia will continue with business as usual, and following on from its largest ever audience reached in December 2010, IGN will soon be able to announce details of its commercial arrangements in the region."

Jones said the restructuring would "result in a 47 per cent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees."

"Today's tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability.

"The new organisational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side," he said. (ANI)