According to Vallewag: “If you thought Google’s “dogfood” holiday gift was chintzy, check out what Yahoo employees got: $50. To donate to charity. Some others, though, are stuffing their stockings with a $10 million legal settlement.”
“The suit, Salsgiver v. Yahoo, has been settled and checks have been issued, with some plaintiffs getting $10,000 to $12,000, before tax, for their troubles. (One plaintiff tells Valleywag that 75 percent of the settlement came in the form of taxable salary, with the rest paid as a penalty.)”
According to AP: “In a move that could make it easier to negotiate a sale, Yahoo Inc. has overhauled a severance program that could have saddled potential buyers with a huge bill after a takeover.”
“Yahoo is laying off 1,500 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force, as part of a cost-cutting plan, but those firings weren’t covered by the severance plan created for takeovers. “
Forbes.com published a few useful job tips for the laid off Yahoo!s: “Then there are the scores of former Yahoo!s running fast-moving start-ups around Silicon Valley. Here are excerpts from interviews with former Yahoo!s with advice for those who have just left the company, or anyone pondering their next career move.”
Job tips covered in the article: “On finding the right job”, “On flexibility”, “On the next big thing”, “On Yahoo!’s alumni network”, “On recharging”, “On keeping your head up“. Read full story
According to Valleywag: “Yahoo’s script for performing the layoff begins when the boss walks up to an employee getting the sack. And then he says, “Thank you, [FIRST NAME HERE], for coming in. I have some information regarding our organization I’d like to tell you in person.” The anodyne managementspeak just gets worse from there: “I appreciate what you have done for Yahoo.””
Sunnyvale, Calif. 12-10-2008.
LayOffBlog.com will be closely monitoring layoff news from Yahoo.
According to BusinessWeek: “This morning, Yahoo folks who haven’t been called into individual meetings with managers are waiting tensely and hoping they’ll still have a job by this afternoon.”
Update (12-08-2008): According to CNet News: “And while Yang, in the most recent earnings report call, noted that further layoffs could occur in 2009, AllThingsD, citing an anonymous source, said that an additional 500 positions may be cut through attrition and a hiring freeze.”
Update (12-10-2008): According to CNet News: “Most of the approximate 1,500 layoffs affect employees at Yahoo’s U.S.-based locations and come from a number of areas within the company, the company said”. “In February, the company cut 1,000 jobs after its fourth-quarter profit took a hit”.
Rumor (12-10-2008, 10:00 am): According to rumor from inside: “There are requests for the little people to be in the office by 9 a.m. If they can’t, they must be available by cell for the next 6 hours. Nobody sure what that all means. Are people going to get in early..”
Rumor (12-10-2008, 2:20 pm): According to rumor from inside: “There are rumors of layoffs within the Brickhouse group in SF, Flickr, and brand marketing.”
Rumor (12-10-2008, 2:30 pm): According to rumor from inside: “people who accept severance pkgs also must sign a no-squawk agreement”
Rumor (12-10-2008, 2:40 pm): According to Valleywag: “Yahoo has a strict set of rules to follow in layoffs: No small talk. Get to the point. Don’t own the employee’s feelings. Did Jerry Yang, the stumbling Internet company’s cloddish founder-CEO, follow them in his latest all-hands memo?”
Rumor (12-11-2008, 6:00 pm): Zimbra project members are safe for now.
According to F*Startups.com: “Yahoo.com will have 2000-3000 Layoff’s by Dec. 10th – 15th. This just came in from a high level executive at Yahoo. This includes the Northern & Southern California offices.
This is yet to be confirmed. Please add comments if you have any more information regarding this layoff.”
LayoffBlog.com 