Yahoo may layoff thousands starting next week: report

Close on the heels of new Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson taking charge at Yahoo Inc, the internet giant is planning to begin layoffs of thousands of employees next week as a part of restructuring its operations, according to a media report.

"Yahoo is preparing to begin layoffs of what could be thousands of employees starting next week...And is then expected to announce a new restructuring of the company the week after," technology blog AllThingsD said, citing a source.

The move would represent the first major change under new Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, formerly head of eBay's PayPal unit, who took over in January, months after the Yahoo post got empty following Carol Bartz's departure in September 2011.

The The layoffs will not take place at once and would mainly affect Yahoo's product, research and marketing groups. Yahoo, which has nearly 14,000 employees, has been struggling to increase its share in the internet market amid tough competition from Google and Facebook.

As a part of the new restructuring plan still being finalised, Yahoo could be a much smaller organisation with a focus on media and advertising business.