Yahoo Cuts Staff By 15% In New Turnaround Plan

The struggling internet firm Yahoo (Hanover: YHO.HA - news) has announced a 15% cut to its workforce as part of a an "aggressive strategic plan" to drive growth after plunging to a $4.4bn loss for 2015.

The loss was blamed on writedowns - cutting asset values - within its business during the final quarter of the year, as it prepared for the next phase in its turnaround.

The latest action plan signalled not only a new round of headcount reductions for Yahoo, as it bids to achieve shareholder support following a 34% plunge in its market value over the past year.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) also confirmed it was still unsure about the planned spin-off its internet business following an earlier U-turn on its plans.

Yahoo said it was "exploring strategic alternatives" in addition to splitting that business from Yahoo's lucrative 15% stake in Chinese online marketplace, Alibaba.

It had planned last year to spin-off that stake but changed course on activist shareholder opposition and following warnings that such a move would take a tax hammering.

Yahoo said it would simplify its product portfolio through the sale of non-core assets - a move it hoped could raise up to $3bn - and concentrate spending on achieving mobile growth through its Search, Mail and Tumblr platforms.

Up to 2,000 staff were affected by the immediate changes, the company said, which would involve the closure of regional offices worldwide in Dubai, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Milan.

It could be seen as a final spin of the dice for under-pressure chief executive Marissa Mayer, who has faced some calls to quit in recent months.

Since she arrived at Yahoo in 2012, from Google, profits and revenues have both fallen sharply alongside the share price.

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) said: "We're announcing a strategic plan that we strongly believe will enable us to accelerate Yahoo's transformation.

"This is a strong plan calling for bold shifts in products and in resources. We are extremely proud of the billion dollar plus business we have built in mobile, video, native, and social (Mavens).

"Our strategic bets in Mavens have enabled us to build an entirely new, forward-leaning business of tremendous scale and growth in just three years.

"The plan announced today builds from that achievement and will dramatically brighten our future and improve our competitiveness, and attractiveness to users, advertisers, and partners (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ."