The Protocol For 12/21/09: Tough Times Continue For Yahoo

Tisk Tisk Tisk (and I hate giving a link to this disgraced Murdoch rag):

Yahoo Inc. is shutting down its offices, except for "essential functions," from Dec. 25 through Jan. 1, as the Internet company searches for new ways to cut costs during the recession.

Yahoo spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek said the move is the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's first mandatory world-wide shutdown, although Yahoo has encouraged U.S. employees to take the week off in the past.

Shutting down "during a traditionally slow week allows employees to recharge, and the company to reduce operating costs for the week," said Ms. Lengkeek. U.S. employees can use vacation time or take unpaid leave for the days not covered in the holiday schedule, she added. Outside the U.S., "time off will be paid consistent with local standards and laws."

Executives at Yahoo have been on an aggressive cost-cutting campaign since the start of the year, laying off nearly 700 employees in the spring and shutting down duplicative products. Yahoo ended the third quarter of 2009 with 13,200 employees.

Not that Google is exempt from its own problems, but with how Yahoo has gotten worse over the years, no sympathy at all for them at all.