Remember that post where I said big companies are bloated by about 10%? It appears Myspace both confirmed and debunked it by laying off 30% of their staff - about 480 people or so - today. Ouch for those retrenched.
Sorrow for the laid off aside, the problem is this: “Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company…our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product” said Owen Van Natta, Myspace’s recently appointed CEO.
Why did you become bloated in the first place and what have you been focusing on if your product and users weren’t it? The thing is this scenario is endemic in large corporations and ways to avoid it need to be thoroughly examined.
Oh, and this raises an interesting question for a country like South Africa where job creation is so important and such a big policy focus in both public institutions and corporations. Who is really to blame when industries start hemorrhaging staff? The corporations letting people go or the policy makers who encourage and reward job creation? I’m just asking…
(Psst… between us, I think Mark is winning. I’m just saying… shhh)