Yahoo Layoff News: Yahoo announced on Thursday that it plans to lay off over 20% of its total workforce, affecting nearly 50% of its ad tech employees by the end of the year. The move is part of the company's restructuring plan for its advertising unit, which it hopes will allow it to focus on its flagship ad business, Demand-Side Platform(DSP). The announcement comes amid widespread job losses in the tech sector as companies struggle to overcome the impact of record-high inflation and continued economic uncertainty.
CEO Jim Lanzone told media that the layoffs were not due to financial difficulties but instead changes to the company's advertising unit. He added that the company would be closing down a part of its advertising business, Supply-Side Platform (SSP), and its native advertising platform, Gemini. In place of these, the company will use its partnership with Taboola to sell native ads on its platforms.
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Yahoo will be doubling down on its DSP business and streamlining it to focus on selling to Fortune 500 companies and premium accounts. To achieve this, the company will build a premium ad sales team for its owned and operated properties like Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News, Yahoo Mail, and Yahoo Finance. The company hopes this new focus will increase the number of advertisers competing for ad placements on Yahoo properties by eight times.
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management bought out Yahoo for $5 billion in 2021. The company had been part of Verizon's digital advertising platform and its rival AOL, but the dream of creating a unified platform never materialized. Under Lanzone's leadership, the company is now shifting its focus to a new venture that will streamline its ad business and provide better customer value.
FAQs
1. Why is Yahoo cutting jobs?
The company is cutting jobs as part of its cost-cutting campaign. The aim is to reduce expenses and improve its financial performance.
2. How many employees will be affected by the job cuts?
According to the information available, Yahoo plans to cut 1000 employees this week. The exact details of the job cuts and the impacted departments are yet to be disclosed.
