Yahoo unveils big job cuts

Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it had made the decision to cut 15 percent of its workforce as the once-massive internet firm continued to flounder amongst competition from rivals, such as Google. The cuts will amount to around 1,500 jobs and close offices in Dubai, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid and Milan.

"Yahoo does not take this decision lightly and will make every effort to handle the process with thoughtfulness, transparency, and compassion," the firm said in a press release.

CEO Marissa Mayer said the company was exploring "additional strategic alternatives," adding fuel to rumors that the firm may finally be sold or merged with a more lucrative business.

Uncertain future

With regards to Yahoo's future, Mayer told the press that she had drafted a new plan that would "dramatically brighten our future and improve our competitiveness, and attractiveness to users, advertisers, and partners." She added that this meant focusing on Yahoo's mobile, video, social and "native offerings" to help drive online advertising revenue. Once Yahoo's major profit driver, many advertisers have long moved on to more popular competitors like Facebook.

The company further said that it will sell off "non-strategic" assets, most likely real estate.

The news comes after the California-based company posted a $4.43 billion loss (4.05 billion Euros) in the final quarter of 2015, and although revenue was up marginally from a year ago at the beginning of 2016, the company will still be forced to make most of the cuts this quarter.

By the end of the year, Yahoo is expected to have only 9,000 employees and 1,000 contractors, less than half of staff numbers from 2012.

As Yahoo continued its downward spiral, its major rival Google made global headlines just the day before when its parent company Alphabet overtook Apple to become the most valuable company in the world.

es/jr (AP, Reuters, AFP)