Jay Adelson, CEO of the social media site Digg, announced Thursday the company will lay off a "very small" portion of its workforce. It will, however, hire a new direct sales force and head of sales to increase profitability in 2009, CNet reported.

The job eliminations at the 75-person firm will be "microscopic in size," a figure later confirmed by Adelson of about 10 percent. He added that the company will focus on profitability and growth this year, and is developing its own ad support structure, according to Adelson's post.

The company will continue its partnership with Microsoft to sell standard advertising units. However, Digg will launch higher-profile advertising programs, and features on the site to support them, CNet reported.

It's tough now for the media industry, but "Digg has not seen any CPM erosion--the price they get for the ads on the site--and that the Microsoft is doing well for the company," said Adelson, according to CNet.