Yahoo! lowered the boom on Tuesday as expected, announcing that it would lay off 1500 employees, a workforce reduction of 10 percent. Presumably, the company's top executives--who infamously rejected a $44.6 billion buyout offer from Microsoft earlier this year--will not be among those let go.
"We are going into what is very clearly a recession mode," said Yahoo! CFO Blake Jorgensen. Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang tried to put a more positive spin on the news, noting that, "getting Yahoo! more fit at this time will provide the flexibility necessary for navigating current conditions and strengthen our position for the future."
Yahoo! reported revenues of $1.32 billion for the quarter, roughly even with the same quarter a year ago. But the company lowered its revenue estimates for the rest of the year as well.
This week's layoffs are the second this year for Yahoo!. The company previously laid off 1,000 employees in January. Yahoo!'s stock closed Tuesday just above $12, or almost exactly half the price on the day that Microsoft finally gave up on its takeover bid for the company in June. Microsoft's initial offer for Yahoo! valued its stock at $33 a share.
