First, the bad (well, worst) news: of the thirteen layoffs, several were concentrated in the Production department—including two webmasters who were sent packing. Though we're not surprised to hear this—production is expensive!—we're still saddened by the news. Kink.com's high quality, in house production has always been one of its most appealing features (well, aside from the extreme kink), and we're crossing our fingers that these layoffs don't lead to a reduction in quality.

Which brings us to our second point: what led to the layoffs to begin with? Why, the same story we've heard over and over again, from mainstream companies across the country: during boom times, Kink.com expanded—so much so that when their revenues began to slow down, their profits disappeared.

And what about this idea of recession-proof porn? Are porn layoffs a sign that the economy is, well, that fucked?

We're going to go with a no... kinda. Yes, the economy is clearly in dire straits, but it's not solely the economy that's to blame for the porn industry's troubles.

The idea that porn is "recession-proof" is one that's oft misunderstood. The porn industry itself isn't what's recession-proof, it's the desire for porn that withstands economic woe. But with Pornhub and Redtube providing ample access to free hardcore content, high quality, studio-produced content can more easily be written off as a luxury—one that can fall by the wayside during tough times.

Recently laid off Kinkster Thomas Roche offered us another opinion:

I think the key to porn seeming recession-proof is that for years it was tied to organized crime, which has pretty shady ways of doing business. In the time that the vast majority of the porn industry has been above-board, both the economy and the tech sector have been growing at a rapid pace. In any given 3-5-year period, there have been new offerings and new products, and new developments in terms of what porn decides it can get away with, so there's always something new being offered. The economy pretty much couldn't compete with that until now. All recessions since porn became "legit" or semi-legit (in fact, back to the '30s) are a blip on the radar compared to this one. There is no period to compare this to.

The times, they are a-changin'.

· Greetings from the downsized (thomasroche.com)
· Thumbnail: Like Madison Young, Kink.com is now hogtied by the economy (hogtied.com)

Given the little we know about the layoffs, it's difficult to say what effect this will have on Kink's production. We can only hope that the surrenders will still be ultimate, the machines will keep on fucking, the pussy will still be wired, and that the piss will keep on flowing... and, of course, if anyone knows any details about the layoffs, please keep us informed!

· Kink.com Lays Off 15% of its Staff (sfist.com)
· Thumbnail: We hope Kink.com fairs better than Annie Cruz (ultimatesurrender.com)

Well, we're not sure—but apparently there are people who are. Specifically, people who read The Daily Beast—the site just released the results of their Valentine's Day survey, unveiling this depressing and completely unromantic statistic.

So what do you think: is this phenomenon limited to the Daily Beast demographic, or are you affected by the sex recession (sexcession?) as well? If this trend starts to spread across the nation—well, it's a good thing we have that stockpile of porn.

· The New Baby Bust (thedailybeast.com)
· Thumbnail: Bobbi Starr and Dana DeArmond cope with the sexcession (pornpros.com)

· PornBailout.com Offering Up to $60 Per Trial on Select Sites (xbiz.com)
· Thumbnail: Business expert Dominno provides all the stimulus we need (incrediblecontent.com)

An anonymous tip just received by the Fleshbot staff indicates that things might not be so rosy—at least not for one company:

I just got off the phone with [a Naughty America staff member], who was telling me the story of how the entire Los Angeles production crew was laid off yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. As they were wrapping up their final shoot of the day, all of the employees who were at the studio—roughly 15 of them—were asked to sit down for a conference. Out of nowhere, Laura D. (executive producer) and Michelle (head of HR) appeared and informed everyone that they were going to be laid off. They were offered two options: two weeks severance pay in addition to the two weeks of vacation pay they were about to get paid—apparently the production crew were all about to go on a two-week paid hiatus, OR, two weeks paid vacation after which they would return to assist in the tear-down of the studio, which would probably take two weeks, and two weeks severance pay. Basically, four weeks of pay or six weeks of pay. It sounds like everyone was stunned and a lot of tears were shed, including many from Laura D.

Also from the phone conversation I learned that NA is sitting on about three weeks worth of unedited footage that will hold them afloat for roughly a few more months, but there isn't any word what the company is going to do after that. I would imagine that those employees working in NA's San Diego office who haven't yet been laid off are wondering what kind of job security they have at this point. I've heard of at least three layoffs from within the San Diego office over the past two months. The economy is truly affecting us all.

If this is true, we're both shocked and saddened—Naughty America has long been a Fleshbot fave, and to see them taken down by economic woes would be truly tragic. We hope this email isn't a sign of things to come across the entire industry—it's so much better when people are getting laid, rather than laid off.

· Thumbnail illustrates happier times at the Naughty Office (naughtyofficegallery.com, via Ask Jolene)