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December 9, 2008 10:08 AM

Report: Big Yahoo layoff coming Wednesday

Posted by Benjamin J. Romano

Fishbowl Los Angeles reports that up to 1,500 Yahoo employees will be cut tomorrow, according to an employee who read an internal e-mail from Yahoo's co-founder and lame duck CEO Jerry Yang.

(Note, this paragraph was lopped off an earlier version this post.)

Microsoft has been vacuuming up Yahoo talent -- particularly in search and most notably with the plucking of Qi Lu -- and is eager to do more.

One source familiar with Yahoo and the search recruiting environment told me before news of these layoffs broke, "I would not be surprised if significant resume flow is going to Redmond right now."

FBLA reports that the layoffs, which shouldn't come as a major surprise at the beleaguered Internet giant, "are generally across the board, but human resources will likely take the biggest hit because their expenses are cost-based and most of their costs are staff."

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Yahoo board members handling the search for Yang's replacement as CEO are "moving closer to a recommendation and have authorized checking references on a few key candidates." On the short list is former Vodafone top exec Peter Sarin. The story, citing anonymous sources, cautions "a decision is likely to be weeks away at the earliest."

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