YAHOO’S EUROPEAN OPERATIONS could be trimmed as part of a potential plan to shed over 1,000 staff from its global workforce.
The internet company has cut its headcount by 14% over the past year, shedding 1,800 staff in a bid to rein in costs.
Business Insider today reported the firm was working on a scheme to trim at least another 10% of its workforce with the layoffs starting as early as this month.
Its European, media and technology support operations were all in line to be hit particularly hard, the website said, in an as-yet unconfirmed restructure that could cost over 1,000 employees their jobs.
Over 80% of the company’s revenue comes from the Americas, compared to only 7% from the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.
A spokeswoman for Yahoo’s UK and Irish businesses told TheJournal.ie the reports of further job cuts were “based on rumour and we don’t comment on rumours or speculation”.
While the Marissa Mayer-led company’s income has been growing over the past year, so has its costs. The firm has delivered three straight quarters of operating losses after spending all of 2014 in the black.
It has been under pressure from institutional investors to dramatically streamline its operations with one calling on CEO Mayer to trim Yahoo’s size to just 3,000 people – down from more than 10,000 at present.
A new office and jobs promises
In March last year, the company opened its new 78,000 square foot EMEA office in Dublin with space for up to 450 staff, an increase on the 320-odd workers based in the city at the time.
The spokeswoman today wouldn’t confirm how many people the company currently employed in Ireland, adding that it didn’t break out staff numbers by country.
However according to the company’s Irish accounts for 2014, it employed an average of 293 people during the year – up from 229 in 2013 and 165 in 2012.
Of its 2014 workforce, about two-thirds worked in editorial and customer-service jobs while the balance had roles in finance and administration.
Based on the figures, it appears the company fell short of hiring the 200 extra staff it pledged to recruit over 12 months in a jobs announcement from early 2013.
Meanwhile, Yahoo booked €319 million in revenue through its Irish operations in 2014, up from only €98 million the previous year.
It reported a pre-tax profit of €3.7 million and paid €523,000 in corporate taxes to the exchequer.
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