Terra Lycos lays off over 20 percent of US staff

Zardon · Feb 6, 2003, 12:24 AM

BOSTON -- Spanish Web portal Terra Lycos laid off over 20 percent of its U.S. staff Wednesday as part of a further reorganization of its global structure, a spokeswoman said.

The job cuts were "designed to reduce and eliminate technical and functional redundancies" produced when Terra Networks purchased U.S.-based Lycos in 2000, according to company spokeswoman Kirsten Murawski.

Terra Lycos laid off 147 of the company's 649 U.S. employees in several of the company's offices, including in Miami , Waltham, Massachusetts and San Francisco . The layoffs were across the board, Murawski said, and do not affect any one division.

Although Murawski said that Net users would not be likely to notice a decline in service due to the layoffs, she said that the move did reflect a previously announced paring down of U.S. operations.

Madrid-based Terra Lycos said last year that it was focusing its U.S. operation on ten core businesses, including search, finance, sports, news, games and dating and Web publishing services, and the streamlining comes as part of that effort. Indeed, earlier Wednesday, the company launched new Web log tools for its Tripod Web publishing site.

The company, like many other online players, has experienced a decline in revenue recently due to the downturn in the online advertising market. Given the current market, cost cutting has become a necessity.

Shares of Terra Lycos (TRLY) traded up 4.4 percent Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock exchange to US$4.95 a share. Scarlett Pruitt

Feb 6, 2003, 12:24 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	Terra Lycos lays off over 20 percent of US staff BOSTON -- Spanish Web portal Terra Lycos laid off over 20 percent of its U.S. staff Wednesday as part of a further reorganization of its global structure, a spokeswoman said. The job cuts were "designed to reduce and eliminate technical and functional redundancies" produced when Terra Networks purchased U.S.-based Lycos in 2000, according to company spokeswoman Kirsten Murawski. Terra Lycos laid off 147 of the company's 649 U.S. employees in several of the company's offices, including in Miami , Waltham, Massachusetts and San Francisco . The layoffs were across the board, Murawski said, and do not affect any one division. Although Murawski said that Net users would not be likely to notice a decline in service due to the layoffs, she said that the move did reflect a previously announced paring down of U.S. operations. Madrid-based Terra Lycos said last year that it was focusing its U.S. operation on ten core businesses, including search, finance, sports, news, games and dating and Web publishing services, and the streamlining comes as part of that effort. Indeed, earlier Wednesday, the company launched new Web log tools for its Tripod Web publishing site. The company, like many other online players, has experienced a decline in revenue recently due to the downturn in the online advertising market. Given the current market, cost cutting has become a necessity. Shares of Terra Lycos (TRLY) traded up 4.4 percent Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock exchange to US$4.95 a share. Scarlett Pruitt