These Yahoo Firings Are Just Plain Depressing (You Can't Fire Your Way To Prosperity)

Business Insider ^ | 11/12/2010 | Henry Blodget

[SeekAndFind]

When Carol Bartz took over as Yahoo CEO, we estimated that she needed to fire 3,000 Yahoos to get the company into fighting shape.

We also worried that, instead of firing 3,000 people, Carol would cut far fewer--and thereby doom the company to future layoffs, terrible morale, and death-by-a-thousand cuts.

Carol took the latter course.

And based on the latest news--that Yahoo is planning to fire at least 10% of the company--it seems that that death-by-a-thousand-cuts is where the company is headed.

Beyond the fact that another 1,000 Yahoos will get canned, here's what's really depressing about this:

You can't fire your way to prosperity.

What Yahoo needs to be doing right now is INVESTING in its products, not cutting back. And at first glance, firing a huge swathe of the product team "to meet financial goals" basically makes it seem like the company is giving up.

Yahoo's revenue has stalled dead. The company's technology has atrophied. Innovation has stopped. The top tech talent has long since moved on to Google, Facebook, and other companies. Yahoo needs to reverse these trends, and one way to begin to reverse them is to invest in the long-term future. Instead, Yahoo appears to be worried about meeting near-term cash-flow targets.

Now, if this cut is really just about eliminating the "lifers" and other dead wood in the product organization, fine. Yahoo needs to work its way back to a culture of intensity and excellence, and canning people who don't care about that is a good place to start.

If this move is about re-aligning the product team to focus on a few big opportunities, that's okay, too. Yahoo has some huge opportunities, and it also has some crown jewels that it needs to defend (Yahoo Mail).

[Frantzie]

Well Yahoo’s front page, news section, AP news feed plus email can keep promoting Obama, Islam and Hope and Change.

It worked real well for NewsWeak mag and Time mag. Go for it Yahoo.

[WebFocus]

Here’s my problem with this latest mass layoff announcement -— THE CEO LIED.

When you’re going to fire a significant portion of your staff, you better be sure that overall morale is not affected by ‘death of a thousand cuts’.

Last year, Carol Bartz assured - in writing and then in her follow-up Town Hall - that this round of layoffs will be the last for a very, very long time. SHE WANTED THE BEST PEOPLE TO BE CERTAIN THAT THEIR JOBS ARE SAFE SO THAT THEY DON’T POLISH THEIR RESUMES AND START LOOKING ELSEWHERE.

That was just over a year ago. How can people not help but think she’s lying her (proverbial) off this time?

This is a blow to Carol’s credibility and if she truly is so pragmatic and straight-forward she should admit she was wrong. But, she won’t. She’ll just red her same red jacket, use a couple swear words, and (somehow without smiling) will tell her employees that everything is going better than ever.

NOT GOOD FOR YAHOO AT ALL BUT GOOD FOR COMPETITORS.

[brownsfan]

“That was just over a year ago. How can people not help but think she’s lying her (proverbial) off this time?”

I’m sure she didn’t lie. She just stated what she was feeling. Surely you understand? You don’t? You insensitive clod!

[HonorInPa]

The real dumbasses are/were the board of directors when Yahoo turned down Microsoft’s offer to buy the compnay for $45B. What is it worth today - $21B? Shareholders got hosed by their own management.

[Red Dog #1]

"You Can't Fire Your Way To Prosperity"

That's certainly far from always being true. A great case in point is the jobs shed by railroads in a few generations ago.