DoubleClick Inc., New York's largest Internet company, laid off between 100 and 150 employees late today, about 5 percent to 7 percent of its work force of 2,100 people.
The move is part of a realignment the company announced two weeks ago that began with the repositioning of some executives. As part of that realignment, DoubleClick created the new position of chief marketing officer.
In a statement, DoubleClick said the layoffs were necessary to “better align” its organization with the new executive changes. The company said it has always “carefully managed headcount to assure [that] our productivity outpaces our competitors.
“Recently, we announced that we were aligning our executive team to meet the needs of our global clients,” the company said in the statement. “Today we have made further changes to the organization to better align under those leaders. The steps we have taken were not dramatic relative to the scale of DoubleClick. The changes made today leave our employee base virtually flat over the course of the second half of the year. This makes us well positioned for 2001.”
DoubleClick's announcement follows on the heels of rival 24/7 Media Inc.'s statement earlier that it would eliminate 200 positions by the end of the year. 24/7 Media already has given the ax to more than 65 employees, including some in senior sales positions.
Engage Inc. also recently eliminated 175 jobs, citing a need to streamline after having made a number of acquisitions.
