Yahoo to Lay Off 400 in India, Invite Some to Work in US, Report Says

Marissa Mayer caused an uproar last year when she banned telecommuting for Yahoo employees. Now, it looks like she again wants workers as close to the company as possible.

The online tech company is reportedly cutting about 400 positions at its Bangalore, India, offices, according to a Bloomberg report that cited an unnamed source. But in an interesting twist, it’s offering more than 40 percent of the affected workers positions in the U.S.

Yahoo said in a statement that it will continue to have a presence in India and that Bangalore “remains an important office,” but declined to provide specific details.

“As we ensure that Yahoo is on a path of sustainable growth, we’re looking at ways to achieve greater efficiency, collaboration and innovation across our business,” the Sunnyvale, Calif., company said. “We’re making some changes to the way we operate in Bangalore leading to consolidation of certain teams into fewer offices.”

Bloomberg said about 1,000 Yahoo employees work from Bangalore.

Brooks Holtom, associate professor of management at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said eliminating jobs in India while bringing some of them back to the U.S. could promote greater efficiency and creativity at Yahoo.

“What I’m reading into this is a desire to unite product development,” he said. “That collaborative process is easier done face to face.”

Mayer, who joined Yahoo as CEO two years ago, has been trying all kinds of initiatives to get the struggling internet company back on track, including a string of acquisitions.

But a lot of work remains to be done.

When the company released its second-quarter earnings, Mayer said she was “not satisfied” with the results.

For the three months ended June 30, Yahoo reported revenue of $1.08 billion, down 4 percent from a year earlier. Profit dropped 19 percent to $270 million.

Yahoo is struggling with display advertising, a core part of its business. Display revenue was $436 million for the second quarter, down 8 percent from a year earlier. Although the number of ads sold increased about 24 percent, the price per ad decreased roughly 24 percent.

This article appeared in print in the October 8th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.