Yahoo preparing layoffs, could affect thousands

Yahoo Inc's new chief executive is preparing a significant restructuring of the Internet company, including layoffs that could cut thousands of employees from its payroll, according to a technology blog.

The moves could be announced as soon as the end of the month and would represent the first major changes under CEO Scott Thompson, the former PayPal president who took the top job at Yahoo in January.

The changes at the struggling Web pioneer, which recently hired the Boston Consulting Group, will focus on its products group, as well as on research, marketing and public relations and businesses that are not core to the company, according to the report on Monday in the blog AllThingsDigital.com, which cited anonymous sources.

"As we have indicated, our leadership is engaged in a process that will generate significant strategic change at Yahoo, but final decisions have not yet been made at this point.

Beyond that, we will not comment," Yahoo said in an emailed statement.

Yahoo, whose revenue slid by more than a fifth last year, had 14,100 employees at the end of 2011.

The company fired CEO Carol Bartz in September and has been undergoing a "strategic review" since then that could include spinning of some of its Asian assets and accepting a minority investment in the company. Meanwhile, activist hedge fund ThirdPoint has announced plans to install its own slate of directors on Yahoo's board.