EMI To Cut 2,000 Jobs In Restructuring Announcement Tomorrow

My heart goes out to all my old co-workers at Capitol and EMI. The Telegraph reported that new EMI head Guy Hands plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs as Terra Firma - (a private equity group that bought EMI last summer) unveils their radical restructuring plan for the ailing music company. Their plan for a more "focused group approach" will be announced tomorrow. What I find most heart breaking about the news is that it comes less than a year after EMI announced their plan to merge Virgin and Capitol Records. The few employees that are left in the tower will have to go through their 2nd major round of layoffs in less than a year. Most long term Rock Insider readers know that I worked at Capitol Records for nearly four years doing New Media. I survived the pink slip in the merger last year, but had to watch nearly two thirds of my Capitol co-workers get the ax while the majority of Virgin employees kept their jobs. I stayed on board for 3 months as the new Capitol Music Group moved their operation from Los Angeles to New York. My new co-workers were great but I ultimately left the company as a final solution to the severe depression I fell into after the experience. Guy Hands pledges to invest millions of dollars hiring new talent scouts and managing EMI's existing artists. The sad truth is that in mass layoffs such as these it's the people at the bottom (assistants, coordinators, managers) who get it and could actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE are the first to be let go. The upside? Most of these major label refugees are finding nurturing homes at independent labels, digital + mobile music companies, and the private sector of music industry where there's no corporate red tape, influence of age, or share holders stopping them from actually changing things. Financial Times has a full interview with Guy Hands: Hands faces 'the perfect storm'