Yahoo layoffs are the newest addition to the global layoffs list. Yahoo has announced to lay off 20 percent of its staff, impacting 1,600 employees in its ad tech business.

On Thursday, employees were notified that 12 percent of the company (1,000 employees) would be laid off before the end of the day. Within the next six months, another 8 percent — or 600 — will lose their jobs. Around half of Yahoo's ad tech business will be affected by these cuts, according to a report by Reuters.

During an interview with Axios, Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone said that the layoffs are not the result of economic factors, but rather an intentional decision to improve Yahoo's unprofitable business unit. Yahoo generates around $8 billion in revenue yearly, making the company profitable.

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In a 30-year commercial agreement, Yahoo acquired a nearly 25 percent ownership in the ad network Taboola in November. Taboola is now the company's native advertising partner. According to Lanzone, these adjustments will enable Yahoo to enhance competition for ad spots by eight times.

However, as a result of the shift, Yahoo will discontinue supply-side platforms for native advertising, such as Gemini (SSP). Yahoo's demand-side platform (DSP), which will now be called Yahoo Advertising, will also receive attention. Deals with Fortune 500 firms will be the main focus of this branch.

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“Over several years, the strategy of our ads business was to compete in the ad tech industry by offering a ‘unified stack’ consisting of our Demand Side Platform (DSP), Supply Side Platform (SSP) and Native platforms. Despite many years of effort and investment, this strategy was not profitable and struggled to live up to our high standards across the entire stack.” a Yahoo spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch.

Also read: Mass layoffs sweep big corporations – Google, Amazon among top companies cutting jobs in 2023