- Yahoo (YHOO) is "withdrawing its remaining operations in China, laying off between 200 and 300 employees and shutting down its Beijing research center," a source tells the WSJ. A layoff of 250 employees would be equal to 2% of Yahoo's global workforce of 12.5K.
- The pullback is part of a broader cost-cutting effort that thus far has resulted in 700-900 layoffs occurring since October (mostly outside the U.S.). Yahoo was reported in October to be cutting 400 Indian jobs.
- In addition to pushing for an AOL merger and larger buybacks, activist Starboard Value has been urging Yahoo to cut costs by as much as $500M/year.
- Not counting its Alibaba stake, Yahoo has a limited presence in a Chinese Web services space dominated by local firms. The company's total Asia-Pac revenue fell 7% Y/Y in Q4 to $180M; it bailed out of South Korea back in 2012.