Yahoo to lay off 20% of its workforce by the end of the year

(NEW YORK) — Yahoo will lay off 20% of its workforce by the end of the year, including 1,000 employees this week, the company announced Thursday.

The cuts are focused on the company’s ad tech division, Yahoo for Business, which will reduce its workforce by nearly 50% by the end of 2023 amid a restructuring of the company’s ads business, a Yahoo spokesperson said.

“These decisions are never easy, but we believe these changes will simplify and strengthen our advertising business for the long run, while enabling Yahoo to deliver better value to our customers and partners,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The company’s current ads business strategy has not been profitable, the spokesperson said. As part of a revamped approach, a new division, known as Yahoo Advertising, will focus on its demand-side platform, with its ad sales teams prioritizing Yahoo-owned-and-operated properties, including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News and Yahoo Sports, the spokesperson said.

The company will also sunset its supply-side platform while fully shifting its native advertising efforts to its 30-year partnership with advertising company Taboola, which was announced in November, the spokesperson said.

The cutbacks arrive amid a string of layoffs in the media and tech industries.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Dotdash Meredith and Vox Media are among the companies that have slashed jobs in recent months.

On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger also said the company is set to eliminate 7,000 jobs in targeting a total of $5.5 billion in cost savings. In all, $3 billion in cuts will come from content, excluding sports, he added; while $2.5 billion will come from non-content cuts.

The eliminated jobs amount to roughly 3% of the company’s 220,000 workers worldwide, according to a securities filing made in October.

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