Marchex Lays Off 10%

Marchex latest domain firm to announce layoffs.

Domain name and local advertising firm Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX) has laid off 10% of its workforce, notes The Pugent Sound Business Journal. Regarding 35 people are losing their jobs, although some of those are contract workers.

Marchex has made a series of acquisitions, so some of the jobs were redundant. But it’s also working to maintain a strong cash position in the 12-month old recession.

Shares of Marchex closed down at $5.39 on Thursday, down sharply from a 52 week high of $14.15.

Marchex joins other domain name firms announcing layoffs:

Oversee.net 10%
NameMedia 30 people*
Tucows 15%

*NameMedia has not directly confirmed layoffs. Multiple sources confirmed that the firm did a round of layoffs.

Compared to other industries, these layoffs are modest. I wouldn’t be surprised to see deeper cuts in the future, but a 10% layoff is not significant. Some firms fire their bottom 10% of employees each year.

If you’ve heard of other domain firms laying off employees or cutting back, please leave a comment.

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