Yahoo Cuts 14 Percent Of Workforce; 2,000 Given Pink Slips; Will Save $375M

Yahoo has made its massive round of layoffs official. The company just released a statement saying that 2,000 jobs have been cut, or 14 percent of it total workforce (which was previously around 14,000). We’ve pasted the release below.

“Today’s actions are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo! – smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require. We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities. Our goal is to get back to our core purpose – putting our users and advertisers first – and we are moving aggressively to achieve that goal,” said Yahoo’s CEO Scott Thompson. “Unfortunately, reaching that goal requires the tough decision to eliminate positions. We deeply value our people and all they’ve contributed to Yahoo!.”

Yahoo says that it will save $375 million upon completion of the layoffs. The company currently expects $125 to $145 million in a pretax cash charge relating to employee severance packages.

As AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher reported yesterday, the layoffs will extend throughout the entire company, but the product division is expected to be hit the hardest. Yahoo will also announce a new reorganization of the company in the near future. And this may not be the end of the road for Yahoo in terms of layoffs. Swisher says that as Yahoo consolidates its businesses and strategy, more employees could be let go.

This is one of the largest round of layoffs for Yahoo in recent years. In December 2010, Yahoo cut 4% of its global workforce, which amounted to 560 employees.

Best of luck to those Yahoo employees affected by today’s news.

Yahoo! today confirmed that it is taking important next steps to reshape the company for the future.

“Today’s actions are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo! – smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require. We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities. Our goal is to get back to our core purpose – putting our users and advertisers first – and we are moving aggressively to achieve that goal,” said Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo!. “Unfortunately, reaching that goal requires the tough decision to eliminate positions. We deeply value our people and all they’ve contributed to Yahoo!.”

Yahoo! has a solid foundation – nearly 700 million users and thousands of advertisers that engage with Yahoo! properties regularly and trust the company with their data and their business. Through its restructuring efforts, Yahoo! intends to grow by responding more quickly to customer needs and competing more effectively in areas where it can win. Yahoo! has identified key parts of the business – a select group of core businesses, the platforms that support those core businesses, and the data that drives deep personalization for users and ROI for advertisers – where the company will intensify efforts and redeploy resources globally, all focused on increasing shareholder value. With a clear focus on profitability and growth, the company will be disciplined in its investments and radically simplify how it builds, launches and maintains many of its properties and products.

Today, the company will begin the process of informing employees about these changes. As part of that effort, approximately 2,000 people will be notified of job elimination or phased transition.

Yahoo! expects to realize approximately $375 million of annualized savings upon completion of all employee transitions. The company currently expects to recognize the majority of an estimated $125 to $145 million pretax cash charge relating to employee severance in its second quarter financial results. The company may incur additional charges in connection with this action. More information will be provided about Yahoo!’s future direction in conjunction with the release of its first quarter financial results on April 17, 2012.