Yahoo To Lay Off More Than 1,000 Workers

Yahoo employees are likely get pink slips as early as Wednesday morning, according to a report in Dow Jones' All Things Digital technology news site.

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang announced during an earnings report Oct. 21 that the company would lay off 10% of its employees, or about 1,500 people. All Things D's Kara Swisher said in a post Tuesday that many Yahoo workers had asked her for details since information was unavailable within the company.

Swisher said that entire projects could be eliminated in an effort to continue restructuring Yahoo. She confirmed the number of layoffs but said the total number of positions cut could rise through attrition and a hiring freeze. She said the cuts would be across the board, but human resources and finance could be hit harder than other departments because of costs.

Those who are laid off will likely have a matter of hours to leave and security will be present but discreet, as a matter of routine, according to Swisher, citing anonymous sources.

Although layoffs are a sign of the times, the news comes as Yahoo continues a lengthy struggle to turn the company around.

Yahoo leaders had planned to name a CEO replacement for Yang before the end of the year, but it's unclear whether board members have made progress in the search. Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal hinted that a replacement could be named soon, while Bloomberg News reported that a decision was still several weeks away. Former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin is the most recent potential candidate to land on a growing list of those rumored to be considered for the post.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said this week that he wants to make a deal with Yahoo quickly. The Journal published the comments after Ballmer repeatedly said Microsoft lost interest in the acquisition after Microsoft turned down its offer to buy Yahoo for $31 per share. It could signal that Microsoft wants to add some Yahoo operations to improve its position in the Internet search market.