Monster Tight-Lipped About Rumored Layoffs; Stock Takes a Hit
By John Zappe July 7, 2009 July 23, 2015
Monster stock is taking a beating today, following the company's acknowledgment it will be laying off workers in its product and technology group.
Joel Cheesman reported Monday that he received a tip from a Monster worker who claims to have seen a multi-page list of about 200 names, including the tipster's own.
In response, Monster issued a statement that was short on details, but said, in part, "we continue to restructure, reorganize. This means that roles and skill areas that are no longer needed to support the business are restructured," says the statement from Kathy O'Reilly, senior manager of media relations at the notoriously tight-lipped company.
The announcement contains no direct confirmation of an impending layoff, nor does it provide any numbers or other specifics. It also has not, so far, been distributed on any of the financial or business services that companies typically use for announcements of this sort. Nevertheless, at lunchtime today the company's stock was trading just under $10 a share, down almost 7 percent from Monday's close of $10.68. Meanwhile the market as a whole was down much less, with the Dow off 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ off 1.4 percent.
O'Reilly said she doubted the company would have more to say than what was in the emailed announcement, though she agreed to try to obtain clarification on the reference to the restructuring being in support of "the changing needs of our customers." We asked what those changing needs are and what the company's strategic direction is now.
In the first quarter of this year, Monster posted a $10.3 million loss on revenue of $132 million compared to a profit for the same quarter the year before of $22.6 million on revenue of $228.7 million.
John Zappe
John Zappe is the editor of TLNT.com and a contributing editor of ERE.net. John was a newspaper reporter and editor until his geek gene lead him to launch his first website in 1994. He developed and managed online newspaper employment sites and sold advertising services to recruiters and employers. Before joining ERE Media in 2006, John was a senior consultant and analyst with Advanced Interactive Media and previously was Vice President of Digital Media for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
Besides writing for ERE, John consults with staffing firms and employment agencies, providing content and managing their social media programs. He also works with organizations and businesses to assist with audience development and marketing. In his spare time he can be found hiking in the California mountains or competing in canine agility and obedience competitions.
You can contact him here.
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4 Comments on "Monster Tight-Lipped About Rumored Layoffs; Stock Takes a Hit"
Lorraine Russo says:
Not surprising. Monster and their ilk are going the way of the dinosaur. It has failed to serve the very people it claims to be helping – job seekers – and gouging the companies that have kept it alfloat for so many years.
Scott Jackson says:
I dont think they are down and out yet. A company like Monster will be back. But yes, they are obviously hurting just as much as the next company due to the cedit crisis.
Rob Bradley says:
Well a large company such as monster needs to keep upto date with the times, its brand image is not exactly in keeping with web2.0 – could it be time for a rebrand of this monster of a company…