Carol Bartz's Leaked E-mail RE: Yahoo Layoffs

Following up on our previous story about the latest round of Yahoo layoffs, a copy of an internal e-mail memo from CEO Carol Bartz about the staff reductions has been leaked.

This e-mail was obtained by Kara Swisher of All Things Digital:

Yahoos,

I want to share some tough news with you. Today, we began notifying some Yahoos that they will lose their jobs. Most of the reductions will come from the Products org and, when completed, will affect about 4% of the company.

I know this has been rumored for some time. It’s disappointing when things like this leak, and it certainly doesn’t make it any easier for anyone involved. This was a tough call, but a necessary one. We need to make these changes now to ensure that Products is structured and running the way we want as 2011 begins. And that means we need fewer Yahoos in some areas, and different types of Yahoos in others.

There are several reasons for this. First, we’ve found a lot of duplication in work between Products and the regions. Second, it’s no secret that we’re cutting investment in underperforming and non-core products so we can focus on our strengths (like email, the homepage, search, mobile, advertising, content and more). And lastly, we need to get the Products cost-structure in order so it aligns with our development plans for next year and beyond.

You’ve heard me say before that I didn’t come to cut Yahoo! to greatness. That’s still true. This decision is about more than cost savings. The changes are meant to get us into a position so we can invest more in the kind of products and technology we know we need to be successful. The process that begins today-along with Blake’s past org changes and new Products operational plan-helps to get us there.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to Yahoos we know and work with, especially before the holidays. Please know that we’re helping those affected with severance pay and benefits, plus services to help them find other jobs.

One last thing before I go: It’s important to put this in perspective, and remember that we’re making good progress on our turnaround. Margins have expanded. Revenue growth has stabilized after a long period of decelerating trends. Product rollouts are accelerating as we modernize our infrastructure. Our Search alliance with Microsoft continues on schedule, and more.

We’ve got a lot of potential, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Let’s stay focused and not lose sight of that.

Carol

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The 4 percent of employees who will lose their jobs will receive 2 months severance pay and a bonus, as long as they don’t talk about the package with anyone other than family, Silicon Alley Insider reported. Such a very corporate way to keep the negative publicity down on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere online.

Checking the math, 4 percent of the company’s 14,000 workers should equal out to at least 560 job cuts, though “about 600” and “about 650” are two other figures that have been reported on various news sites and blogs.

The London office wasn’t spared, as 77 people on the product team will lose their jobs, leaving mostly sales and editorial staff, SAI also reported