Web portal facing stiff competition from Google and Facebook, has lost several top executives
(Reuters) - A media report stating Yahoo was planning to cut one-fifth of its workforce is "misleading and inaccurate," says Yahoo, but the web portal stopped short of ruling out any layoffs.
Yahoo, which is trying to revive revenue growth amid competition from search giant Google and fast-growing social networking services like Facebook, said in an emailed statement it is "always evaluating expenses to align with the company's financial goals."
"However, a 20-per-cent reduction in Yahoo's workforce across the board is misleading and inaccurate," the statement said.
A report on the technology blog TechCrunch, citing two anonymous sources, said that Yahoo was planning to lay off 20 per cent of its staff. TechCrunch said it is sticking by its story based on its sources.
After Yahoo's statement came out, influential blog AllThingsDigital cited sources as saying that, while Yahoo is indeed preparing layoffs in December, they will amount to something like 10 per cent of the product organization under chief product officer Blake Irving.
Investors have pressured Yahoo, the leader in display advertising, and chief executive Carol Bartz to deliver growth and revive a moribund stock price. Speculation has surfaced that private equity firms are exploring a buyout of the $20-billion company.
Yahoo is one of the world's most popular online destinations, and still the No. 2 United States search engine behind Google. But the web portal is facing increasing competition from Facebook as well as from Google, and hemorrhaging senior executives to rivals.
Several of Yahoo's executives have left in recent months, including vice president of media Jimmy Pitaro, head of mobile for North America David Ko and U.S. head Hilary Schneider, who announced plans in September to leave the company.
One Yahoo employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said employees were "nervous" amid management changes and a reports about private equity firms exploring a takeover.
"We are all just sort of worried," the employee said.
While the employee had not heard rumors of layoffs prior to Thursday's media reports, the person said staffers expect major changes in the company's structure, in the wake of the recent management turnover.
Yahoo recently hired Ross Levinsohn, the former head of News Corp's online operations, to replace Schneider.
Yahoo finished the third quarter with 14,100 employees, compared with 13,200 employees at the same time a year ago. Its shares held steady at $16.80 in after-hours trade.
