Yahoo is reportedly preparing to announce a massive round of layoffs as the troubled internet company struggles to turn around its fortunes.
The search firm could announce up to 2,000 layoffs, according to tech blog All Things D, with an announcement to come as early as Wednesday. The company was unavailable for comment.
Yahoo is still one of the most popular websites but struggling to keep up with the growth of rivals Google and Facebook. Facebook last year surpassed Yahoo as the largest online display advertising carrier in the US.
Yahoo has recently announced a series of management overhauls, appointing the former PayPal chief executive Scott Thompson as chief executive in January after a high profile bust-up with former boss Carol Bartz. The company has been in protracted negotiations about a possible sale of assets including its share in the Chinese internet company Alibaba but talks collapsed earlier this year.
Thompson is expected to make the announcement to staff on Wednesday morning, according to All Things D. Two thousand jobs would represent more than 14% of Yahoo's 14,000 staff worldwide. Cuts are expected to span Yahoo's business from marketing to mobile apps.
The move comes after major Yahoo shareholder Third Point launched a campaign to oust Yahoo's management in a bid to revive a company that, according to its recent letter to Thompson, has been "languishing for years".
Yahoo is also embroiled in a legal dispute with Facebook over technology patents. Yahoo sued Facebook last month, accusing the social network firm of violating its patents. Facebook countersued this week, accusing Yahoo of violating patents that cover areas covering display advertising, content personalisation and photo sharing that accounted for about 80% of Yahoo's revenue last year.
