What once used to be an integral and core part of the Internet for pretty much anyone that opened up a web browser appears to be unraveling at the seams. Yahoo recently posted their Q4 2015 earnings, and despite beating analyst expectations and staying in line with earnings from the previous year, the company has put itself up for sale. With this also comes further job cuts and closures for the company, with as much as 15% of Yahoo’s work force set to be laid off this year and the closing of five offices to go with them. It would appear that even an ex-Googler, one that helped shape the company in the early days, cannot save Yahoo.
The five offices closing around the world will be in Buenos Aires, Dubai, Madrid, Mexico City and Milan. According to reports, 15% of Yahoo’s 9,000 employees and around 1,000 contractors will be laid off, resulting in around 1,500 employees losing their place at Yahoo. This move has been a long time coming, as Yahoo have been talking about restructuring for some time, but just what that meant was unclear until today. Yahoo’s CEO, ex-Googler Marissa Mayer said that this latest move would be a “a strong plan calling for bold shifts in products and in resources” and will help to “accelerate Yahoo’s transformation”. This wouldn’t be the first time that Mayer has clashed with Yahoo’s employee base, as she famously told those that worked for the firm from home to find a Yahoo office or no longer work for the company.
Layoffs are never nice to hear about, but it would appear that for Yahoo this sort of thing is neccesasary, as the new layoffs and office closings will help Yahoo save $400 Million a year. As the Internet firm continues to focus on mobile and content-orientated offerings, they’ll focus on markets where they’re already strong such as Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK and the US. With products like Flickr and some strong mobile offerings such as Yahoo Mail and Yahoo News Digest, Yahoo will probably seem an attractive purchase to some out there, but the next few quarters will determine whether or not these new avenues can secure the company long-term.