Classified listing website dubizzle.com has parted company with its CEO and numerous other staff members as part of a major restructuring, Arabian Business has learned.

Other senior managers also are among those who have lost their jobs at the Dubai-based company, two sources have told Arabian Business.

The restructuring is intended to make the business less UAE-centric and give it a broader MENA footprint, one source said.

Arto Joensuu had been appointed CEO in August, 2013, when Dubbizle’s founders, Sim Whatley and JC Butler, relinquished day-to-day control to return to the US with their families.

The company had employed about 150 people prior to the retrenchments.

It could not be confirmed exactly how many staff lost their jobs. The job losses are believed to have taken place in early February.

A Dubizzle spokesperson confirmed the job losses to Arabian Business but was still confirming a statement at the time of publication.

Dubizzle launched in 2005 as a website for UAE residents to buy and sell items such as cars and second-hand furniture as well as rent homes.