Yahoo to Lay Off Thousands in Restructuring

Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) plans a major restructuring of its operations that is likely to include thousands layoffs at the Internet giant, according to news reports.

According to the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog, Chief Executive Scott Thompson, who took his post in January, will announce the changes by the end of March.

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 cited by All Things Digital and other outlets.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company had 14,100 employees at the end of 2011. It continues to face stiff competition and erosion of market share from search leader Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG).

In January, Yahoo reported a fourth-quarter profit that reflected falling revenues and higher taxes.

Much of the restructuring will involve Yahoo's products division as well as areas in which the company has struggled, All Things Digital reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Potential targets include public relations and marketing, research, marginal businesses and weaker regional efforts, the people said.

Thompson, after interviewing a number of outside firms, recently hired Boston Consulting Group to help focus Yahoo on growth initiatives and to assist in determining the best path for the company to move forward, the anonymous sources cited by All Things Digital said.

Thompson, a former eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) executive, said in January that Yahoo would focus on its strengths and prioritize how its uses its capital, Bloomberg News noted.

Yahoo, which owns the most popular U.S. Internet portal, is seeking ways to increase efficiency after a failed turnaround effort under Carol Bartz, who was fired as CEO in September.

Yahoo shares fell 12 cents to $14.50 in trading Tuesday. The stock has declined 9.4 percent this year.