US Economy Further Stumbles as Internet Giant Yahoo Lays of 2,000 Employees

The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer instead chose to call it an attempt jump-start growth from within a leaner, more agile company while saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The changes we’re announcing today will put our customers first, allow us to move fast, and to get stuff done,” Thompson said in a memo to employees on Wednesday, obtained by Reuters, adding that the changes will result in a “smaller, nimbler, more profitable” company.

“We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities,” Thompson wrote.

Wall Street was hardly affected by the news, as the markets remained stable after what many believe is a demise of a company failing to come to grips with a changing online realm in the wake of Facebook and Google domination.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, which ended 2011 with about 14,000 employees, said it would save $375 million annually from the cuts, and will incur a pre-tax cash charge in the second quarter of $125 million to $145 million.

Some analysts were skeptical about the layoffs, which had been widely expected.

“You can’t cut your way to revenue growth,” said Colin Gillis of BGC Partners. “What people want to see out of Yahoo is they want to see a plan and provision for revenue growth.”

Last year, Yahoo’s revenue totalled $4.98 billion, compared with Facebook’s $3.71 billion with just 3,200 employees.