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"MySpace is crumbling, or rather restructuring. The company has just sent an email to international staff announcing cuts of 300 staff and the closure of 4 offices in Europe. Offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain will also be coming under &amp;quot;specific review&amp;quot;.\r\n\r\nLondon based international managing director Travis Katz is also leaving the company although there is no mention of his departure in the email or press release from MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, posted on Techcrunch Europe.\r\n\r\nMySpace recently lost out to Facebook in worldwide unique visitors for the first time. In May, Facebook pulled in 123.9 million visitors and 50.6 billion page views, compared with MySpace's 114.6 million visitors and 45.4 billion page views, according to comScore.\r\n\r\nThis is the email sent to MySpace staff from CEO Owen Van Natta:\r\nFrom: Owen Van Natta\r\nTo: FIM MySpace All\r\nSubject: IMPORTANT: PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL RESTRUCTURE\r\nImportance: High\r\n\r\nEveryone,\r\n\r\nLast week we made a number of changes to MySpace\u2019s domestic structure in order to create a leaner, more nimble organization. Today, we are announcing the next step in our overall restructuring effort - a proposal to streamline our operations abroad.\r\n\r\nUnlike our recent domestic restructuring announcement, what we are announcing today is a formal proposal we intend to implement, rather than an executed plan. As required by laws in countries where we operate, we will not implement the plan until we have consulted with potentially affected employees. As a result, even though the plan we are proposing today would apply to all international divisions of the company, a finalized international restructuring will be put into action over a period of days.\r\n\r\nSimilar to our domestic restructuring, our international plan is designed to rein in growth in staff and expenses that we cannot sustain. Our proposal would reduce MySpace\u2019s international staff from 450 employees to approximately 150 employees and close at least 4 of our offices outside the United States.\r\n\r\nUpon completion of the proposed plan, London, Berlin, and Sydney would become the primary regional hubs for MySpace\u2019s international operations. Under the proposed plan, MySpace would place all existing offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain under review for possible restructure. MySpace China, a locally owned, operated, and managed company, and MySpace\u2019s joint venture in Japan would not be affected by the proposed plan.\r\n\r\nWe are focusing on London, Berlin, and Sydney for two very simple reasons: (1) these are markets where we have a lot of MySpace users as well as the resources to allow us to compete effectively and (2) these are major international commerce centers where a robust MySpace presence can help our company develop new and innovative business partnerships.\r\n\r\nAs with the domestic changes we made last week, these proposed international reductions and eliminations will be extremely challenging \u2013 professionally and personally. These are difficult decisions and they are essential to our financial well-being and the re-establishment of our overall growth strategy.\r\n\r\nOur goal to tap into as many international markets as possible drove us to create too many offices around the globe, and with them came inefficiencies. Under the new plan, we will refocus our efforts on regional business partnerships and integration in a smaller number of territories, while retaining a robust international presence. We remain steadfast in our commitment to reaching a global audience.\r\n\r\nThe last two weeks have been tough for everyone. The employees who leave us played an important role in the successes of MySpace in these international markets, and I thank them for their hard and dedicated work. The restructuring steps we have taken have laid the groundwork for an exciting new chapter of innovation for MySpace. I look forward to working with you all and speaking with you in the coming days.\r\n\r\nThank you,\r\n\r\nOwen\r\n\r\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\r\n\r\nMYSPACE PROPOSES INTERNATIONAL RESTRUCTURING\r\n\r\nProposal Includes Plans for Office Consolidations and Staff Reductions\r\n\r\nLOS ANGELES\u2014June 23, 2009\u2014MySpace today announced its intent to restructure its international operations and refocus personnel around a smaller number of territories, while retaining a robust global consumer presence.\r\n\r\nThe proposed restructuring plan, which is subject to consultation with international employees in some countries, would apply to all international divisions of the company, reducing MySpace\u2019s international staff from 450 employees to approximately 150 employees and closing at least 4 of its offices outside the United States.\r\n\r\nUpon completion of the proposed plan, London, Berlin, and Sydney would become the primary regional hubs for MySpace\u2019s international operations. Under the proposed plan, MySpace would place all existing offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain under review for possible restructure. MySpace China, a locally owned, operated, and managed company, and MySpace\u2019s joint venture in Japan would not be affected by the proposed plan.\r\n\r\n\u201CWith roughly half of MySpace\u2019s total user base coming from outside the U.S., maintaining productive and efficient operations in our international markets is important to users worldwide and our immediate financial strength,\u201D said MySpace Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta. \u201CAs we conducted our review of the company, it was clear that internationally, just as in the U.S., MySpace\u2019s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today\u2019s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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