By Daryl Lang

In another sign that a tough economy and shifting media markets are squeezing stock imagery agencies, Corbis says it will cut 175 jobs worldwide and eliminate two executive positions.

Many of the cuts are designed to eliminate duplicate jobs between Corbis and Veer, a smaller competitor Corbis acquired last year. The cuts, to be phased in over the next 12 months, will reduce the Corbis's headcount from about 1,075 to 900, or by about 16 percent, according to company spokesperson Dan Perlet.

The announcement this week continues a pattern of layoffs and restructurings at the unprofitable company. Corbis eliminated about 285 jobs in two separate rounds of layoffs in 2007.

As part of the restructuring, senior vice president Adam Brotman and chief creative officer Ross Sutherland will leave the company, Perlet says.

Brotman, who oversees networks including the Corbis web site, guided the launch of Corbis's micropayment site SnapVillage last year. Sutherland is an advertising veteran who joined Corbis in 2006 from Young & Rubicam.

CEO Gary Shenk took over Corbis in 2007 with a directive to make the company profitable. Since then, times have been tough for traditional stock imagery, as the bad economy has hurt advertising and media clients. A shift from print to online publishing means some customers are paying less for image licenses. Larger competitor Getty Images, watching its creative stock business stagnate, reached a deal to be sold to a private equity firm this year.

Corbis remains officially upbeat. Perlet says Corbis' cash flow is stronger than it has ever been. "These changes don't reflect a dramatic weakness in the market," Perlet said. "Gary is continuing to accelerate that transition to profitability."

In 2007, Corbis acquired Veer, which is based in Alberta, Canada and had about 170 employees in four offices. Corbis has long-term plans to consolidate the duplicate Corbis and Veer offices in New York and Germany, Perlet says.

Changes to Corbis' executive team show that the company is further integrating the Veer staff.

Veer vice president Don Wieshlow will become senior vice president of products, overseeing both Veer and Corbis.

Veer chief operating officer Nairn Nerland has been named senior vice president of networks for Corbis, taking over Brotman's previous role. Nerland has been on Corbis's executive team since the Veer acquisition.

Veer head of human resources Vivian Farris has been promoted to senior vice president for human resources at Corbis. Farris fills the job vacated by former SVP Steven Lodis, who was terminated from Corbis in March. Lodis filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the company in June, and Corbis is fighting the suit.

Corbis senior vice president for sales Ivan Purdie will now oversee the sales teams for both Corbis and Veer.

Corbis continues to search for a new senior vice president for technology. The complete executive team now stands as follows:

- Gary Shenk,  CEO  
- Ivan Purdie, SVP,  Sales  
- Don Wieshlow, SVP, Products
- Nairn Nerland, SVP, Networks
- Mark Sherman, SVP,  GreenLight
- Barry Allen, Chief Financial Officer
- Vivian Farris, SVP, Human Resources
- Jim  Mitchell, SVP, General Counsel
- Erik Arnold, Interim VP, Technology

Corbis is headquartered in Seattle and is owned by software mogul Bill Gates.

Related stories

- April 10, 2007: Corbis Names Gary Shenk CEO, Replacing Steve Davis
- April 17, 2007: Corbis CEO Announces New Exec Team
- Nov. 6, 2007: Corbis Acquires Veer, Plans To Keep Brands Separate
- Nov. 14, 2007: Corbis Laying Off Another 125 Employees
- June 28, 2007: Corbis Lays Off 160, Abandons Assignment Division

This story was updated Sept. 12 to correct the spelling of Wieshlow's name.