According to Reuters, Yahoo! is actively closing down its Korean business and cutting around 200 jobs. We’ve reached out to Yahoo! for comment and confirmation and will update you as soon as we hear back.
This shutdown was already reported, and it was supposed to happen by “the end of the year.” The end of the year has apparently happened.
Here’s what Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer had to say about the shutdown last week:
This decision is part of our efforts to streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that’s set up for long-term growth and success.
The company is not finished doing business in Asia by any means, as it shared:
Yahoo! is committed to Asia. We have a solid business in APAC and see a lot of opportunity for growth across our content properties, communications services and ecommerce sites. We’ll continue to focus on building great experiences for the millions of people across the region who come to Yahoo! every day.
What all of this means is that Mayer is working on her plan to restructure and refocus Yahoo! as a company, and if that means closing down shop in some areas that she seems aren’t worth the time and money of shareholders and employees, she’s not afraid to take action. While it’s never a nice thing to hear about people losing jobs, we hope that they’ve gotten decent packages before they were sent on their way.
Mayer recently took part in her first earnings call as the CEO of Yahoo! and it went pretty well from what we can tell from reactions. Regarding the future, Mayer doesn’t feel like any major “pivots” are necessary for Yahoo!:
My view is that the core of Yahoo is incredibly valuable and a great platform to build on. I don’t think this is a situation where there is a giant pivot and we go into a completely different business. The future of Yahoo is extraordinarily bright… we’re committed to going back to our roots as a consumer Internet company focused on user experience.
UPDATE: Yahoo! has directed us to this previous statement on the matter. Sounds like a confirmation that it’s in progress to me.
[Photo credit: Flickr]