Kara Swisher

Recent Posts by Kara Swisher

Yahoo Layoffs of 650 to 700 Employees Set for Tomorrow

It matters a great deal to the unfortunate employees at Yahoo who are being laid off this week for the reporting on the subject to be accurate and to entail some serious effort.

(It’s bad enough to lose a well-paying job in this still-tough economy, but to lose one over the holidays requires quite a lot more than incorrectly quoting a tweet off Twitter without checking first.)

And so here’s the deal, as BoomTown has previously reported, about what’s happening with Yahoo layoffs, set for tomorrow morning:

Yahoo will lay off about 650 to 700 employees.

Those layoffs will come largely from its product division, headed by Blake Irving, although there could be firings in other parts of Yahoo.

The layoffs are mostly in the U.S. units of Yahoo.

Those let go will be notified tomorrow and will likely have to leave Yahoo facilities immediately. Company sources said the action will be completed by early afternoon, Pacific time.

It’s definitely bad timing for Yahoo, given it is less than two weeks until Christmas, but cost-cutting at the company seems unavoidable as it seeks to improve revenue and spur growth.

Still, it is another sad day in Sunnyvale, Calif., where the iconic Internet giant is headquartered.


comments so far. Add yours.

  • Anonymous

    This was started about a year ago when me and alot of hard core linux supporters just wanted full linux support all though i for one will love to see yahoo support linux., and yes this number has grown beyond my grasp 1200 people talk then those people talk. i am terribly sorry for the people losing their jobs.

    me and 1200 other linux user were wandering when you will support linux, ubuntu, suse… anyhow its all debian. if not the us as linux users will petition and refuse your services, further more we will post between twitter, and facebook to all liinux users around the world not to use any yahoo product out there. I am a yahoo user, but i just want my im with all the features, and do not wish to have to move over to skype. thank you
    Ira Strouse

  • http://www.astutebuyersadvocates.com.au/ Buyers Agents

    an awful news for the employees… and 700 is really a big number.. hopefully yahoo can get back to it’s feet next year

  • http://sisyph.us/ ErikSchwartz

    They’re laying off 650 people from the product group. That’s 10%. So currently the product group at Y! has 6,500 people in it??? What on earth do they all do?

    I ask because from 1997 to 2000 I ran the entertainment product group at Y!. When I left in 2000 the product group had maybe 300 people in it (entertainment had maybe 10). Most of the products that Y! has now were launched by a single product manager. Many PM’s ran more than one product. (Y! Astrology does not need a team of PMs). Y! has about 200 products or so. Are there really an average of 30 PM’s per product?

    The should choose the best 650 and let go of the other 5,850.

  • http://www.docmurdock.com Michael Murdock

    Not surprising given the lack of vision and leadership at the top. Not surprising at all. And of course leave it the old battleaxe to steal Christmas from those leaving. Sad but true.

  • Eric Westby

    @ErikSchwartz, by “product group” they mean everyone involved in building Yahoo! products in Sunnyvale, i.e., not only product managers but also engineers, wireframers, visual designers, and content producers.

    I agree Y! has/had way too many PMs, but they don’t have 6,500 in Sunnyvale. ;^>

    Eric Westby
    (former Y! PM)

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