Two days ago, around 2:51 p.m., I wrote this about the swirl of rumors surrounding impending layoffs at Yahoo!
First came the anonymously sourced report of imminent layoffs at Yahoo! Then today comes the rumor-heavy blog post speculating that the axe may already be on the downswing, followed by the news reports, some with the all-forgiving question-mark hedge, based on that post. And finally comes the meta-post on the whole thing. But all we can say for sure, as of 2:51 p.m. on Tuesday, is this: So far, no layoffs have been announced at Yahoo!
Drat, curses, and Ctrl-Alt-Delete, because a mere 25 minutes later, Kara Swisher of the BoomTown blog on All Things Digital got a little more specific on the matter:
...according to sources familiar with the situation, they will take place in about two weeks, around December 13th.
As BoomTown previously reported earlier this month, the cuts in staff will total about 10 percent and be almost completely centered on the product organization under Chief Product Officer Blake Irving.
That would mean layoffs of about 650, since that part of Yahoo has about 6,500 employees.
In addition, said sources, the layoffs might result in the outsourcing of some functions at the company.
Swisher adds today that "according to sources," Yahoo! exec Andrew Siegel, head of corporate development, will put a period where that exclamation point once stood, and will be leaving the company.