Wikia cuts staff by 10 percent

Wikia, a company that provides wiki and search services and was started by Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales, has let go about 10 percent of its employees. The layoffs came as part of a restructuring that will refocus the San Francisco company on sales and marketing. To this end, it is actually hiring in those areas, according to Wales.

Many other startups in the Valley have already turned to or are eyeing layoffs as a strategy to weather the economic downturn, regardless of VC backing. Wikia has raised a total of $14 million since its founding from the likes of Amazon.com, Bessemer Venture Partners and Omidyar Network among others.

Alana Semuels of the Los Angeles Times points out that the Wikimedia Foundation, which currently runs Wikipedia, is hiring right now too, and could provide a potential refuge for those who ended up on Wikia’s chopping block.

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