TechCrunch UK has published an email from MySpace CEO, Owen van Natta, to all staff explaining that International staff numbers are going to be cut from 450 to 150. More interestingly, however, is that in the same email, van Natta says:

Upon completion of the proposed plan, London, Berlin, and Sydney would become the primary regional hubs for MySpace’s international operations. 

He then goes on to say:

We are focusing on London, Berlin, and Sydney for two very simple reasons: (1) these are markets where we have a lot of MySpace users as well as the resources to allow us to compete effectively and (2) these are major international commerce centers where a robust MySpace presence can help our company develop new and innovative business partnerships.

The latter of these comments, i.e. the rationale behind the focus on Sydney, is really good news and sees yet another big International Web/Tech name identify Sydney as a place to run a real business rather than just a sales and marketing branch office.

Some recent news in that space includes:

• Google - who have always been good to Aussies by running proper dev teams here and who recently opened up their new Australian head office down in Pyrmont)
• Vodafone - Who are working on global innovations with local Sydney teams
• Friendster - An oldy but a goody, now with an Aussie CEO and being run out of The Rocks
• Yahoo!7 - who have started to reach out to the local developer community through developer events (thanks in part to the Web Directions crew)

Hopefully, between the orgs that have always been here and these newer activities, it’s the start of long-term trend.