Yahoo expected to layoff 2,000 jobs 'at market open'
Struggling Internet company Yahoo is reportedly, and according to sources, ready to send around 2,000 employees their pink slips "at market open", and some layoffs have already started, reports AllThingsD.
The report said that the jobs could be as soon "as the market open". At 15 percent of Yahoo's 14,000 staff worldwide, the job cuts are expected to shift the company away from marketing to advertising.
But the company may "double down" by hiring new employees in the coming months, according to the report.
Yahoo chief executive Scott Thompson, former PayPal president, knew how rocky the company was when he signed up.
With a potential sale on the cards, it's looking likely that either the company is to shed its bloated burden of staff it doesn't need, or in an attempt to save cash. He said that change was on the cards, but details were then sparse.
ZDNet's Larry Dignan pointed out at his welcoming party five challenges he faced. Outside of relevance, innovation, definition and content, we have:
"Morale: Thompson is a real geek. Is that enough to rev up the Yahoo troops. Yahoo employees have been through a lot. They’ve had media execs as CEOs, geeks and odd ducks dropping F-bombs everywhere. Another item to ponder: Is Thompson just a caretaker for a bigger deal?"
With so many layoffs and pink slips floating about, it's entirely possible that the remaining staff could make a more compact, succinct Yahoo.
After all, a Business Insider report this week pointed to a former Yahoo business development manager saying that Yahoo was "bloated", and it could cut up to 25 percent of its staff "without actually cutting much of its capabilities."
Whether or not Yahoo is striking the balance between employees and cash, or it is merely shedding its feathers in a bid to make it a likely candidate for a company sell-off, it is not yet clear.
Yahoo's attempt to jump on the patent litigation bandwagon gave away more than it had hoped, signalling more than a desperation to reclaim what it believes it owns, but cash that it wholly needs.
Whichever way Yahoo goes, by transforming from an all-round Web company to an advertising business, or it's merely waiting for the stars to align before it reattempts talks of a sale, Yahoo can put on those kinky high heels and slap on some lipstick, but it doesn't change the fact in its current state, it's a rotten sale and would probably bleed the buyer dry.
Image credit: CNET.
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