US internet firm Yahoo says it is cutting roughly 2,000 jobs as it
seeks to build a "smaller, nimbler, more profitable" company and reduce
costs.
"We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities.
"Our goal is to get back to our core purpose - putting our users and
advertisers first - and we are moving aggressively to achieve that
goal," said Scott Thompson, chief executive of Yahoo, in a statement.
The struggling internet pioneer announced a restructuring to focus on
a "select" group of core businesses and the platforms that support
them.
A key focus will be the data that drives "deep" personalization for
users and return on investment for advertisers, the Sunnyvale,
California-based company said.
"Today's actions are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo -
smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as
fast as our customers and our industry require," Thompson said.
The company said it would notify approximately 2,000 people that
their jobs have been eliminated or would be in the future. It gave no
details on the timing of the layoffs.
Yahoo said it expects the workforce reduction will produce about $375 million in annualised savings.
"With a clear focus on profitability and growth, the company will be
disciplined in its investments and radically simplify how it builds,
launches and maintains many of its properties and products," it said.
The 17-year-old company had more than 14,000 employees at the end of
2011. It also has a large number of software contract workers whose
could also be affected in the shakeup.
A Yahoo spokeswoman has said that the 14% workforce reduction was "not
across the board" but that "most units have been impacted." She declined
to offer further details.
Yahoo investors welcomed the news, pushing shares up 0.3% to $15.23 in morning trade in an overall declining market.
Thompson, formerly head of mobile payments firm PayPal, became chief
executive in early January after months of turmoil at Yahoo, including
deadlocked talks over possibly selling off the company's valuable assets
in China and Japan.
Operations income was up 3.5% in 2011 to $800 million, but net earnings
fell 14.6% to $1.06 billion, and earnings per share for the year fell to
82 cents from 90 cents.
A spokesperson for Yahoo in London refused to reveal how many staff
it employs in Ireland, and how many jobs might be cut here as part of
their plan to axe 2000 jobs worldwide.
She would only say that they currently employ 14,000 people
worldwide, and that they do not break down details of their locations.
She also said that they could not comment further because they have entered into a consultation process with staff.
No spokesperson in Ireland could be contacted.
Source : RTE News 4th April 2012
