Carol Bartz was hailed as a savior both inside and out when she took the reins as CEO at Yahoo.

But that was then and this is now.

Martin Berko, who writes a pithy syndicated financial advice column, describes her this way,

Big Mamma is a brutish CEO who is not liked by Wall Street. She has no experience in running an Internet information provider or generating advertising revenues and is about as subtle as a train wreck. She’s confrontational with analysts, the media and key employees.

Make that most (all?) employees.

December 14 Yahoo announced a 4% layoff and started sending pink slips to 600 people.

Yahoo management chose to do this the week before Christmas.

I say ‘chose’ because when I called the half dozen Yahoo managers I know and asked when the layoff was decided they all said they had known in October.

The folks I talked with aren’t executives, but mid-level line managers.

Granted, there is no good time or easy way to lay people off, but there are better and worse ways to handle it if one becomes necessary and ten days before Christmas doesn’t qualify.

Layoffs, like deaths, are a shock even if you know it’s coming, not to mention the intrinsic “but me” factor.

If the layoffs had been done in October people would have had some time to get over the shock, prepare and batten down the spending hatches before the holiday season started.

Then there is the long-term damage to Yahoo.

Yahoo says it is still hiring in other areas, but it’s desirability as a place to work just sank even lower.

Even if Berko is correct and Yahoo is acquired and/or Bartz is replaced the memory of “the week before Christmas layoff” will remain.

Sure, people will accept offers because of the economy, but they are unlikely so see the company as a long-term career path.

The term “taxi job” refers to stopgap employment while looking for a permanent opportunity.

The timing of this layoff will certainly raise Yahoo’s positioning in the taxi lineup.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/497378654/

This entry was posted on Monday, December 20th, 2010 at 1:15 am and is filed under Business info, Communication, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: layoff, Martin Berko
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