Yahoo Staffers Clogging the Exits

Many people seem surprised that Yahoo would go ahead with layoffs despite its ongoing takeover battle with Microbeast, but the fact is that everything doesn’t grind to a halt when a takeover offer shows up. Yahoo has to proceed as though the deal may not go through, regardless of whether the odds are overwhelmingly stacked in favour of a Micro-hoo merger succeeding (which in my opinion they are). But one thing that is likely to change is the number of people looking for an exit.

Some people — such as Susan Mernit and Ryan Kuder, who have blogged and Twittered their departures — are part of the layoff-induced exodus. Others seem to be leaving of their own accord, however, including (according to a report at TechCrunch) Brad Horowitz, the head of Yahoo’s technology arm, who is reportedly going to the Great Google. Valleywag says he’ll be working on the OpenSocial project.

If I were a betting man, I would expect the number of smart Yahoo employees making that leap to increase exponentially over the next few weeks and months. Just think about it: would you want to not only be acquired by Microsoft — the king of .Net and shrink-wrapped software — but submerged in a sea of merger-related bureaucracy and time-sucking process for the next year or two? I wouldn’t. I hope Google has brought in extra staff to handle all the calls.

Comments

[MarcelMcSweeney]

Employees don't like change and usually assume the worst, nothing new here.

[mkreisel]

Tech companies such as MSFT and YHOO are SOLELY built around people. When good people leave, they will soon be worth little.

[thenoseknows]

If Microsoft wins, thousands of Yahoo employees will be getting the pink slips and they know this, maybe thats why the chosen few are leaving ahead of time before this happens, and Jerry Yang calls his employees "rocks"! Maybe without these employees Yahoo will be worth a lot less.