More Yahoo layoffs ahead of first-quarter earnings

We already know that Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz has been in a number of talks with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer regarding a deal proposal, but things are set to get tough from here. Business Week sources have said that Bratz is planning a few hundred layoffs before next Tuesday; this is when Yahoo will report its first-quarter earnings.

The New York Times were the first to report the news of these layoffs, a company spokesperson for Yahoo has refused to comment on the issue. It seems that the plans are yet to be made final, but if sources are, correct, then these several hundred layoffs will come as a shock to those affected.

Although Yahoo hired a number of staff in key areas in 2008, they ended that year with 2,400 layoffs. Yahoo has been losing ground year-on-year to search engine giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), so these layoffs and a recent management shakeup is a sign of Yahoo’s continued struggles.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) saw Yahoo as a wounded animal and tried to go for a hostile bid early last year, this distracted Yahoo and lead to a number of top executives and engineering jumping ship and heading over to Microsoft.

Google themselves are also feeling the strain of a troubled economy with its search advertising, they are expected to reports its worst first-quarter earnings.

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