layoffs

MySpace--the long-troubled social-networking site turned social entertainment hub--is in the midst of planning that could soon result in significant layoffs of its staff, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

That number could be as much as 50 percent of the 1,100 employees at MySpace, largely based in the U.S., but also in international locations.

While the decision of what cuts to make to its employee base have not been made yet, nearly the entire MySpace staff was given the last week of December off from work to save money.

Sources stressed that management was still working … Read more

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook suffered a brief outage yesterday but came back up with new photo features

Apple announces that the Mac Store with apps for Macs will launch on January 6

Yahoo layoffs will apparently result in the shutting down of several Yahoo services

The European Union is deepening its investigation into anti-competitive practices by Google

New Google Maps for Mobile on Android comes with 3D and allows for offline directions

An update to Hotmail lets you surf certain Web sites right inside your e-mail

An official PlayStation app is coming soon for Android and … Read more

It's Yahoo, it's BoomTown and so it's an internal memo from CEO Carol Bartz to staff about the layoffs at the Silicon Valley Internet giant yesterday.

Here it is:

Yahoos,

I want to share some tough news with you. Today, we began notifying some Yahoos that they will lose their jobs. Most of the reductions will come from the Products org and, when completed, will affect about 4% of the company.

I know this has been rumored for some time. It's disappointing when things like this leak, and it certainly doesn't make it any easier … Read more

Several weeks after rumors began to spread that the beleaguered Yahoo was on the cusp of announcing a round of layoffs before the end of the year, the company has confirmed "personnel changes" of several hundred employees across its offices worldwide.

"Today's personnel changes are part of our ongoing strategy to best position Yahoo for revenue growth and margin expansion and to support our strategy to deliver differentiated products to the marketplace," a statement from the company confirming the layoffs explained. "We'll continue to hire on a global basis to support our key … Read more

It matters a great deal to the unfortunate employees at Yahoo who are being laid off this week for the reporting on the subject to be accurate and to entail some serious effort.

(It's bad enough to lose a well-paying job in this still-tough economy, but to lose one over the holidays requires quite a lot more than incorrectly quoting a tweet off Twitter without checking first.)

And so here's the deal, as BoomTown has previously reported, about what's happening with Yahoo layoffs, set for tomorrow morning:

Yahoo will lay off about 650 to 700 employees.

Those … Read more

Multiple media outlets reported earlier this month that Yahoo was on the verge of major layoffs, perhaps as high as 20 percent (but more likely 10 percent) of the struggling technology company. On Tuesday, TechCrunch reported that tipsters were contacting them to say the layoffs had begun. The company's Yahoo Groups and Flickr divisions were named specifically.

Yahoo's official statement doesn't say much: "Yahoo is always evaluating expenses to align with the company's financial goals. Beyond that, we don't comment on rumors or speculation."

If true, the layoffs are yet another blow to … Read more

Yahoo is indeed preparing to lay off employees, in a reduction in force that will be done in December.

But the layoffs, first reported in TechCrunch at 20 percent, will be closer to 10 percent and be almost completely centered on the product organization under Chief Product Officer Blake Irving, sources close to the situation said.

That would mean layoffs of about 650, since that part of Yahoo has about 6,500 employees.

Yahoo, in fact, just put out a statement saying the 20 percent figure was "inaccurate." Said the company in a statement: "Yahoo is always … Read more

Clearwire is adding subscribers at a rapid clip as its 4G network hits more major cities, but the company's balance sheet has taken a big hit. Now Clearwire needs funding pronto.

First the good news, the company said it added 1.23 million new subscribers in the third quarter to end with 2.84 million. Those gains have the company projecting more than 4 million subscribers by the end of the year.

But those gains come at a hefty cost that will require Clearwire to cut 15 percent of its workforce, trim marketing spending and delay plans for more … Read more

NEW YORK--Last summer, Lime Wire began installing a secret upgrade to its software that enabled the company to shut down the peer-to-peer network whenever it wanted, music industry sources have confirmed.

The revelation was first reported Tuesday by PC Mag. According to the Web tech publication, reporters there were tipped off by a source on Monday night.

"LimeWire added the ability to send out messages to clients updating them with the location of their local peers via start-up scripts," PC Mag wrote, citing the anonymous source. "It will be these start-up scripts that will be disabled...largely … Read more