Jerry Yang’s Entire Memo to the Yahoo Troops About Layoffs (Except Not the Part About Maybe More to Come)

Here’s Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang’s entire internal memo to the staff of the Internet giant about the layoffs, which took place today.

(You can see the Yahoo version of the memo here.)

There’s no need for translation, except to say–as Yang did–that it is the worst of times for any company.

Except, as BoomTown previously reported, that there might be more layoffs to come, which a Yahoo (YHOO) spokesman told the New York Times.

Said Yahoo’s Brad Williams: “There could be additional staff reductions next year. It depends on the decisions we make about prioritization, and on things we can’t predict in the economy.”

In any case, here’s the whole memo (in consistent Yang-style punctuation, so don’t comment that I have it wrong below!):

yahoos,

today, most of our layoffs in the US are happening, and they’ve been underway in other regions around the world.

this is a tough time for all of us and i wanted to take a moment to reach out to you.

saying goodbye to colleagues and friends is never easy. they all are dedicated members of our yahoo! family, who worked beside us and shared our passion.

but as you all know, we must take actions to better perform in today’s turbulent global economy. while we’ve found efficiencies in many parts of our business, laying off employees is unfortunately unavoidable. our difficult decision to let colleagues go reflects the changes we’re having to make to better align costs with revenues–something businesses in virtually every sector are also having to do.

for those who are affected by these layoffs, i am extremely grateful for your contributions to yahoo!. we realize the impact this will have on you. that’s why, consistent with our past practices, we’re making every effort to support you with severance packages and other services.

the reductions we’re making are very hard, but they are also very necessary–as we focus on the long-term health of our business. to those who are leaving us, i extend my heartfelt thanks on behalf of yahoos everywhere–you will be missed.

thanks,

jerry

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