Yahoo! to lay off 3% of India workforce

Global internet major Yahoo! is understood to have issued lay-off notices to three per cent of its India workforce due to the ongoing slowdown.

Sources close to the company said, "As part of Yahoo's strategy to perform competitively in the current economic downturn in India, less than 3 per cent of the total Indian workforce has been impacted and they were notified today."

Yahoo! has about 2,000-strong workforce in India and it is likely that a maximum of 40 people would be impacted by the decision, the sources said, and added that "a significant number of employees were affected due to poor performance and only a few of them due to the slowdown".

The Yahoo! notification, according to sources, read: "Yahoo! is grateful for the important contributions made by the employees affected by this reduction and that is why, consistent with our past practices, we are making every effort to support impacted employees with severance packages and outbound placement services."

Yahoo! has a R&D centre in Bangalore where a large number of its India employees are located.

About 1,500 Yahoo! employees -- about 10 per cent of its workforce -- are likely to be laid off globally, to enable the company survive the deteriorating financial turmoil.

Chief Executive of Yahoo! Jerry Yang had said in November that he would leave the company, after facing strong criticism for his leadership.