Yahoo login goes down as company lays off 700 employees

Yahoo has announced it is laying off 700 employees -- the same day Yahoo login goes down. Image: Flickr / jeffpearce / CC-BY

The Yahoo login and Yahoo mail site was presenting problems to users today. This is happening at the same time that Yahoo announced layoffs of more than 700 employees. The internal layoffs and Yahoo login issues are not directly connected, though some are theorizing it may mark the downfall of the company.

Yahoo login and Yahoo services down

This morning, in scattered reports on the web, users were saying that the Yahoo login was not working. Yahoo services such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Buzz and Yahoo News were not accepting user logins. Yahoo Mail servers were also reported as being down by several outside mail services. As of 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time Tuesday, all Yahoo services appeared to be intermittently working.

Yahoo layoffs reported

Monday night, the New York Times reported that rumors were circulating about Yahoo layoffs. Tuesday morning, news outlets across the country confirmed that the company will be laying off between 600 and 700 employees, roughly 5 percent of the workforce. Most of the layoffs will be in Yahoo’s products group, which controls Yahoo Mail and other major Yahoo products. A few days ago, the head of Yahoo’s products division requested that all department heads prepare operational plans for a layoff of up to 20 percent of their workforce.

AOL buyout off the table for Yahoo

In early 2009, Carol Bartz took over the CEO position for Yahoo. She has vigorously defended the company, insisting that the company is trying to develop more ways for “users to interact in social fashions.” Previously, AOL was considering making a buyout offer for Yahoo. That offer is now off the table, and it was never officially made. The good news is that the Yahoo layoffs and removal of the AOL offer may actually save jobs, as a combined Yahoo/AOL company would have laid off a significant portion of its workforce.