In an effort to control costs and consolidate products, MySpace parent company Fox Interactive Media is shuttering the SpringWidgets (which launched in 2006) and Flektor (acquired in 2007) widget platforms. Twenty five employees are affected.
Ten employees at Flektor’s Culver City offices will have the opportunity to interview for positions at MySpace. It’s not clear if SpringWidget’s fifteen employees, located in Atlanta, Georgia, have been laid off or will be able to find new jobs within MySpace. Both sites are set to be shut down, says a FIM representative.
SpringWidgets has evolved into a platform that MySpace uses to create widgets for advertisers. Flektor is a Slide and RockYou like widget platform that lets users create slideshows with photos and other small applications.
Earlier this year MySpace let 5% of employees go (under a new performance plan). More recently they stopped giving employees free lunches.
It’s important to note that Fox Interactive Media has 1,700 or so employees, so the layoffs aren’t material. This looks more like a house cleaning of products that don’t deserve to be branded and maintained separately from MySpace.
Flektor and SpringWidgets are added to the deadpool.