Struggling Internet grandfather Yahoo is seeking to cut 10 percent or more of its workforce, according to unnamed sources close to the company cited in a Business Insider report.
Reports of Yahoo’s restructuring process have surfaced over the past few weeks, and onlookers and pundits have been guessing that job cuts may be on the cards. The new report claims that the number of dismissals could be larger than anyone dared to predict.
The layoffs will potentially reduce Yahoo’s headcount by a thousand or more, depending on the severity of cuts. The business divisions that are expected to fare the worst include Yahoo’s media arm, which already experienced a setback after the company decided to pull the plug on its Yahoo Screen streaming service, European operations, and the technology that supports the company’s online framework.
As restructuring becomes a priority for the web giant, job losses could take place sooner rather than later. Referring to the cuts, one source claimed that a dedicated team is “working on it and they want to do it this quarter.” Yahoo has declined to comment, although it previously made clear that changes are likely to take place.
News of a restructure first came to light in December, when Yahoo’s board unanimously voted to spin its core web business into a separate company. Yahoo’s chief executive Marissa Meyer talked down the speculation, claiming that shareholders, U.S. regulators, and business partners would need to be consulted before a concrete decision is made.
As the company’s popularity has waned during Mayer’s stint as CEO, a position she occupied in July 2012, questions have been raised regarding her performance. Earlier this week, it was reported that Starboard Value (an investing firm with a stake in Yahoo) wrote a scathing letter to Mayer and the rest of the company’s board demanding a change of leadership at the top.
