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Tech media firm hammered by blog competition

Ten percent of the CNET workforce will be hammering their connections for job leads, as the media company trimmed its workforce amid board takeover threats from the Jana Partners hedge fund.

CNET Lays Off 10% of Their U.S. Workforce...including me.
-- Robert Balousek's blog post on losing his position, as noted by Valleywag

CNET CEO Neil Ashe gave investors reason to enjoy the perverse relationship between job cuts and stock prices. The stock price rose by a penny in after-hours trading as news of the layoffs hit after market close.

"At the beginning of the year, we talked about our focus on category defining brands and the need to drive greater efficiencies in the business," Ashe said in a memo obtained by PaidContent about the firings.

"Based on that business analysis, today, we are making significant changes to the organization. This includes the very difficult decision to make a workforce reduction that will affect 10 percent of our U.S. workforce or about 120 people. These changes allow the company to put greater focus on its leading brands, as well as help drive efficiencies throughout the business," he continued.

CNET expects to incur charges between $3.5 and $4 million related to the restructuring. Competition from a variety of tech blogs has been cited at Venture Beat and elsewhere as a reason for CNET's fall from technology news grace.