Top story of the day: PW got the word that Viz is laying off a massive 60 employees -- about 40% of its total workforce, including shuttering its New York office. From some of the talk that I've heard going around, this is hitting just about everyone in the company, from editorial to marketing and back around again.

This comes after a restructuring in February of 2009, where they lost about 20 employees. Clearly things are not going too well at the big V. The official statement from Viz goes something like this:

VIZ Media is in the process of refining its focus, and is restructuring to adjust to changing industry and financial market realities. As part of the restructuring, the company had to refine its workforce by eliminating certain positions and making cuts in other areas. We are of course saddened by these departures and sincerely appreciate the hard work, passion and dedication of those that have moved on, but we feel confident that with these changes, VIZ Media will be more streamlined and able to withstand the climate of the economy at this time.

Their staff size was surprisingly large, and I know they had a number of editors in their bullpen -- appropriate considering how many titles they put out a year -- but it must have been a huge strain on the company. As how they'll be restructuring and changing its focus, this will likely affect their slate from mid-2011 onwards. I wouldn't be surprised if they started cutting their lowest-performing titles at this point. The changes won't be immediate, but we'll try to keep you updated on how things will progress from this point on with the company.