MySpace said Tuesday that it is cutting nearly half of its staff in an effort to create a "much tighter focus".

The layoffs, which will affect about 500 people, were placed in context of the site's October redesign, which chief executive Mike Jones attempted to portray as a sign of the company's positive direction.

Huge layoffs at MySpace were expected, however, especially as executives called the losses "not acceptable" in November.

Jones said that the layoffs were necessary to cut costs. "Today's tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability," Jones wrote, according to reports. "These changes were purely driven by issues related to our legacy business, and in no way reflect the performance of the new product. The new organizational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly, and attain more flexibility on the financial side. We are also committed to rebuilding the company with an entrepreneurial culture and an emphasis on technical innovation."

MySpace's U.K. business will fall under Fox Networks' control, while the site's presence in Germany and Australia will be managed under "strategic local partnerships," according to the email. "Myspace will retain a core, dedicated international team to work with partners in order to ensure users, content partners and advertisers continue to be served," Jones said.

According to the statement, MySpace is "trending positively," with 3.3 million new Profiles created and 134,000 more Topic pages, the company said. MySpace said it has already seen a rise of four percent in mobile users just between November to December, now totaling over 22 million users.