The YouTube network Machinima seems to have laid off at least some of their staff. Details are still pouring in, and weāll update this post as we hear more, but weāve seen reports on Twitter about layoffs at the large video network.
Update: This afternoon, a Machinima rep sent over the following statement:
Today Machinima underwent a reorganization to address its global growth, and this process unfortunately resulted in layoffs. Less than 10% of Machinimaās workforce was effected. Also as part of the restructure Machinima is hiring across key divisions including Sales, Marketing and Product.
Original story follows below:
Editorial manager Billy Shibley tweeted this afternoon that he had been laid off, along with other people there:
https://twitter.com/embed/status/279652034939072514
https://twitter.com/embed/status/279652606584971264
And Machinimaās Justin Fassino also said he was no longer with the company. He said his computer had been taken away:
Effective immediately I am no longer at Machinima. Would love to send an official email with my contact info but they took my computer.
ā J (@Justegarde) December 14, 2012
More staffers:
Yes, to those asking, I got laid off too. Good thing I updated my LinkedIn!
ā Esmeralda Portillo (@EsmeraldaIP) December 14, 2012
https://twitter.com/embed/status/279658835310956544
Machinima was recently ranked #13 on Deadlineās YouTube rankings, with 1,414,432 weekly views. Weāll continue to update as we hear more about whatās going on over there.
Update: Machinima editor-in-chief Rob Smith told Joystiq that 23 of the companyās 200 staff were laid off today. He also mentioned that 15 job openings are up for grabs.
This is growing pains. Machinima has grown a lot in a short amount of time. We had to look at the business, look at where weāre focusing. It has hit the editorial group, but we are still doing editorial coverage in a slightly different way.
