Yahoo to lay off 1,600 employees this year, more than 20% of its workforce, affecting half of its digital advertising division
- Yahoo has announced the layoff of 1,600 workers, which represents more than 20% of the total.
- This measure focuses on the staff that worked in the digital advertising division of the company.
Yahoo was one of the first companies that stood out in the early days of the Internet and, although many have already lost track of it, not only still exist but its influence as a pool of managers in the digital ecosystem is undeniable.
The fever of layoffs in the technology sector has not forgotten Yahoo, which on Thursday announced that it will lay off more than 20% of its workforce this year 2023, with a total of 1,600 people affected, as reported by the company in a statement sent to TechCrunch.
The bulk of the layoffs at Yahoo will begin this week, during which the company is expected to cut 1,000 jobs, or 12% of the current workforce, which is estimated at 8,000 people.
In the following 6 months, the technology company will cut another 8% of its workforce, which implies the dismissal of around 600 more people this year.
Yahoo’s layoffs have focused on the company’s digital advertising unit, which after this measure will operate with half as many employees as before.
In an interview with Axios, Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone has assured that the company’s job cuts are not due to the macroeconomic situation, but rather a strategic shift in the Yahoo for Business unit, which is currently not achieving profitability.
“For several years, the strategy of our ad business was to compete in the ad tech industry by offering unified packages. Despite many years of effort and investment, this strategy was not profitable and failed to live up to our high standards,” a company statement said.
This news comes a year and a half after the 2021 purchase of Yahoo and AOL by investment fund Apollo Global Management from their previous owner, Verizon. The deal was closed for $5 billion.