Layoff Alert: Not If … When

With the economic situation obviously worsening–don’t say you weren’t warned–BoomTown has no doubt now that Internet companies are in the midst of reevaluating their troop numbers to streamline themselves for the coming few months of financial winter.

That’s why, according to several sources at Yahoo, for example, top execs are telling some employees that the company is considering options to get itself sized right for an expected slowdown in the advertising market.

Why now? Well, it is critically important that Yahoo (YHOO) give Wall Street a solid performance when it reports its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21, for the period ending Sept. 30.

Costs cuts–while no growth solution, as increased revenues are–do make the bottom line look prettier.

Silicon Valley better get used to this.

Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski wrote yesterday about the latest unemployment figures for Silicon Valley, showing the rate rose for the fourth consecutive month in August to reach a four-year high.

And, as I wrote last week after the Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) job-cut announcement, rumors continue to abound about the layoff shoe dropping at eBay (EBAY).

Since then, I have heard from a lot of start-ups, most of which report that they are being more careful about hiring than previously.

It’s a smart idea, indeed, to make sure that they are lean and mean in a less frothy market.