Yahoo plans job cuts to recapture market

Yahoo Inc plans to cut hundreds of jobs as part of an effort to refocus its faltering business and boost its sagging stock.

The job cuts are expected to number around 500, out of 14,000 employees globally, although their precise locations have yet to be finalised, according to a media report.

The layoffs would mark the most aggressive step yet by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang who began a reorganisation to revive the company's fortunes after taking over from movie studio mogul Terry Semel in June 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday.

The cuts could be announced during the company's fourth quarter earnings report on January 29 along with some more information about the company's ongoing reorganisation.

Besides falling further behind its old rival Google Inc in the lucrative search and advertising market, Yahoo also has been losing web surfers to new competition from social networking sites Facebook and MySpace.

Over the past two years, Yahoo stock has dropped 40% during that period to $20.78, its lowest point in more than four years, making it a perpetual target of take-over rumours.