RealNetworks Chief Executive Rob Glaser told employees the company is taking steps to help workers being laid-off in rough economic times, such as extending their Cobra medical coverage.

The company's also doing other things to cut costs and won't be having a holiday party this year.

The memo:

Team --

I'm writing to share some important but not happy news.

Today, we're implementing a reduction in force affecting about 130
employees, representing about 7.5 percent of the company's work
force. This is a world-wide initiative: about one-third will be in
Seattle, approximately another third in other U.S. locations, and the
rest outside of the U.S. This is roughly proportionate to the
overall number of people we have in each region. All divisions are
affected in varying degrees.

Many of the reductions are a result of consolidations of operations
of companies we've acquired in the past year or so that are being
integrated with other parts of our business. We also have looked
across the company to integrate similar functions and groups to
achieve better efficiency.

Having said that, this is also a reflection of the economy. While
our business has not been affected as much as many, we are not immune
to what's going on in the wider economy. In addition to these
staff reductions, we're also tightening our belt in other ways --
watching travel expenses even more closely, for instance, and
canceling the Seattle HQ holiday party.

Because of the unusually difficult economic environment, we're taking
extra steps to help affected employees. For instance, every
affected staff member in the U.S. will receive six months of Cobra
healthcare coverage, which is double what we have done in the
past. We're making similar adjustments internationally.

Despite the changes being made today, which I and the rest of the
management team deeply regret, the company is well positioned to
weather the current economic storm. As per our last earnings call,
we expect to achieve record revenue for the year, and we still see
opportunities for growth and investment across the business. In
order to stay healthy, we need to get our costs in line with the
business as it looks today. This will enable us to continue
investing in the areas that set us up for growth and success in the future.

I'll have more to say at our next company meeting early in 2009. Until
then, take care.

Rob