CREATION: More layoffs at Grey's Beyond

<p>For the second time in months, Beyond Interactive has taken the axe </p><p>to its payroll, chopping staff numbers by 30 per cent globally. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Grey Global Group company blamed a softening online advertising </p><p>market for its second round of sackings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>About 100 staff from Beyond Interactive offices around the globe were </p><p>let go this time around. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, according to Beyond Interactive Asia-Pacific co-founder and </p><p>CEO, Viveca Chan, the layoffs did not affect Hong Kong operations, which </p><p>is in the process of boosting staff count. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ms Chan blamed the slump in online advertising for the latest </p><p>cutbacks. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is a dotcom problem. There are no layoffs in Hong Kong and China. </p><p>We are actually hiring more people. We had a very short dotcom boom over </p><p>here ... so there is little reliance on dotcoms for revenue by Beyond </p><p>Interactive. By the time we had launched, we had missed out on all the </p><p>hype. Our clients are blue chip multinationals," Ms Chan said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency laid off 63 employees believed to be mostly junior staff, </p><p>globally in October last year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Headquartered in Ann Arbor, the company has offices in Hong Kong, </p><p>Beijing, New York, and London among other locations. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>