Verizon to Cut 2,100 Jobs at Yahoo, AOL After Merger

About 2,100 people will lose their jobs at Yahoo and AOL after Verizon Communications Inc. completes its acquisition of Yahoo and combines the two onetime internet rivals, a person familiar with the matter said.

Yahoo shareholders approved the $4.5 billion transaction Thursday. The deal, which was delayed by Yahoo's disclosure of two massive security breaches, is expected to close on June 13.

The layoffs, which affect roughly 15% of the roughly 14,000 people in the combined workforce, will occur evenly across AOL and Yahoo to reduce duplication and streamline the organization, the person said. Employees in product and engineering roles will be the least affected, the person said.

News of the layoffs was earlier reported by technology news site Recode.

Late last year, New York-based AOL laid off several hundred workers to prepare for the merger. Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., had 8,500 employees as of Dec. 31.

The Yahoo purchase and the pending layoffs will help bring closure to a drawn-out deal process that has dampened morale at the internet pioneer. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong will lead the combined company under Verizon's new businesses unit, which is overseen by Verizon's Marni Walden. The digital media operation will be known as Oath, but the Yahoo and AOL brands won't go away.

"Consistent with what we have said since the deal was announced, we will be aligning our global organization to the strategy," AOL wrote in a statement. "Oath's strategy is to lead the global brand space. With access to over one billion consumers upon close, we will be positioned to drive one of the most important platforms in the consumer brand space."

Mr. Armstrong chose his leadership team several weeks ago, and that group has helped determine where the layoffs will occur, the person said.

Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com and Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 08, 2017 12:49 ET (16:49 GMT)