Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /recruitment/

Microsoft 'considering investing $1.5bn in retention of Yahoo! staff'

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Internet giant Microsoft is reportedly considering setting aside $1.5 billion in order to retain Yahoo! staff if its takeover of the search engine provider goes ahead.

According to details of a lawsuit filed by shareholders against Yahoo! in February concerning pension funds, Microsoft will use the money if it is successful in its bid for Yahoo!.

During a conference call hearing on March 24th, a Yahoo! lawyer said that Microsoft had "earmarked $1.5 billion for employee retention at Yahoo!", the Wall Street Journal reports.

The legal case concerned allegations that Yahoo! breached its duties by not responding in good faith to Microsoft's acquisition offer.

Initial discussions concerning the $1.5 billion staff retention plan were said to have taken place in a communication between the general counsels of Yahoo! and Microsoft.

A Microsoft spokesman stated: "Microsoft is not commenting on the suit or anything related to it."

Meanwhile, in a staff email sent in February, Kevin Johnson, president of the Microsoft platforms and services division, commented, "There's no question we will dedicate significant rewards and compensation to Yahoo! and Microsoft employees."

In January of this year, Yahoo! revealed it had let go of more than 1,000 workers, reducing the company's total number of personnel to around 13,200.

The reductions were said not to have affected the areas of the business that support its "critical growth initiatives".

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Google retains title as 'best place to work'

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:24:00 GMT

For the second year in a row, internet giant Google has won the title of Best Company to Work For in America.

According to research conducted by Fortune magazine and the Great Places to Work Institute, the firm came top of 100 organisations based in the country.

Google employees polled in the study stated that the company has created a culture that is high in trust, low in politics, good at resource and wealth sharing and full of meaning and significance.

"I have been in the high-tech industry for 15 years and have worked at eight different companies, large and small. Google is by far the most dynamic and meaningful company I've worked at," stated one staff member.

According to the worker, the company founders are "candid and accessible", management processes are transparent, promotions are determined by peer reviews and the company is trying "to make a difference in the world" by helping to tackle global warming.

Among the perks identified by employees were the free "gourmet" food, which is served at all hours, the transport to and from work provided by the company, childcare resources, exercise facilities and the interesting guest speakers brought in.

Now in its 11th year, the best US companies to work for list identified mortgage lender Quicken Loans as the second best employer, with Wegmans Food Markets completing the top three.

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Yahoo! expected to cut workforce

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:24:00 GMT

Internet portal and search engine provider Yahoo! is set to make a significant number of layoffs in an attempt to refocus its operations, according to reports.

Sources close to the matter said that the company is planning to shed around 700 jobs from its 14,000 strong workforce.

While an official announcement on the subject has not yet been made, an emailed statement from Yahoo! spokeswoman Diana Wong said: "Yahoo! plans to invest in some areas, reduce emphasis in others and eliminate some areas of the business that don't support the company's priorities."

According to the source at Yahoo!, an announcement on the restructuring of the firm's workforce could be made when it reveals its fourth quarter and full-year financial results later this month.

The news comes after Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the company intends to focus on becoming "the best starting point" for all web users, whether they browse from home or on their mobile phones.

Mr Yang made clear his intention to boost Yahoo!'s performance by "sharpening" its business focus shortly after he took up his position last summer.

In the company's announcement of its second quarter results, Yahoo! president Susan Decker added that the firm would "aggressively" pursue ways in which it would be able to distribute its capital and human resources for maximum effect.

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Yahoo! launches Kickstart

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:25:00 GMT

Yahoo! is set to launch a new social networking site entitled Kickstart today (Monday, November 5th).

The site, which is targeted at students and recruiters, is intended for use as a career networking tool, according to Scott Gatz, the senior director of Yahoo!'s Advanced Products division.

Commenting on Kickstart, Mr Gatz said: "It's a professional network with a purpose - to help college students and recent graduates build a professional network," CNET.com reports.

He clarified that Kickstart is not a competitor to Facebook because it focuses on career development as opposed to fun, adding that an initial "early preview" is focusing on professionals and alumni, with students being included next year.

Kickstart will enable students to connect with others in their situation, as well as with alumni and firms who may be able to help them along their career path. Users will be able to post a photograph along with a CV for others to view.

They will also be able to search for other people's profiles and make contact with them.

According to reports in the India Times, Yahoo! is providing a kick-start to the project by offering $25,000 to the university which can boast the greatest number of alumni profiles by the end of the year.

This further expansion of Yahoo! into social networking follows its launch in September of the site Mash, which is intended specifically for socialising purposes.

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Google to expand in Europe

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:48:00 GMT

Google is planning to expand its staff significantly, with the majority of the hirings taking place in Europe, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

The search engine, which is increasing its personnel by a third, is attempting to avoid being seen as an aggressive American multinational.

Under the expansion, Google is set to recruit several thousand engineers in Europe to create a research and development team to rival the size of its US counterpart, according to the FT.

New head of engineering in Europe for the company Nelson Mattos commented: "I aim to grow the EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] engineering team as big as the one in North America."

Mr Mattos joined Google earlier this year and is responsible for all the EMEA engineering and product development activities.

Google is "not seen correctly in Europe", Mr Mattos stated, saying that he is under the impression that Europeans view the search engine as a big American company that is simply concerned with making money.

"There is a lack of understanding of how we work. People don't understand the business model, the new computing environment and the employees in shorts."

Of Google's approximately 7,000 engineers, only 500 are currently based in Europe.

Although the company has not specified a time-frame for the European recruitment programme, the FT states that it is likely to occur within the next few years.

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Google health exec set to depart

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:48:00 GMT

Google executive Adam Bosworth, who has so far been in charge of the search engine's move to provide health information, has left the company, according to Reuters.

As vice president of engineering, Mr Bosworth was responsible for overseeing a variety of technology initiatives during his time with the California-based firm.

He joined Google three years ago and previously worked for companies including BEA Systems and Crossgain.

The search engine announced his departure on the industry blog Search Engine Land, saying: "Adam is a great talent and was instrumental in starting Google Health. He is now on vacation and has decided to pursue other opportunities after that."

"Marissa Mayer is taking over the health team in the interim until a new team leader takes over. Google is moving forward with work on our health products."

Mr Bosworth became know as the "architect" of Google Health early in 2006. However, the expected Google Health search service failed to emerge that year.

Instead, Google released a general tagging system, which has remained its main method of explicitly organising medical information for people.

Despite this, the New York Times recently reported that both Google and Microsoft are in the process of planning ways of assisting internet users to make more informed decisions regarding health.

According to the publication, the companies hope to achieve their goal by combining improved search tools, the resources of the web and online personal medical records.

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Yahoo! operations undergo reshuffle

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 01:48:00 GMT

Yahoo!'s president Susan Decker is making her mark on the search engine giant through a major reorganisation of its management structure, the New York Times reports.

Under the rearrangement, a new division will be created that will take responsibility for generating the majority of the company's revenue.

Yahoo!'s publisher network, corporate partnerships and HotJobs will merge with sales operations to create a global partner solutions division.

Also, as part of the reshuffle, Yahoo!'s top sales executive Gregory Coleman will depart the company, although he is set to remain there until February to ensure a smooth transition.

In an interview Hilary Schneider, Local Markets & Commerce Division and Yahoo! Publisher Network executive vice president, described the moves as a continuation of a process of reorganisation that began two months ago when the company merged the sales group responsible for graphic ads with that responsible for search ads.

Ms Schneider, who joined Yahoo! in September 2006, commented: "This integration is the logical next step."

As company president, Ms Decker has recently played a key role in determining the search engine's vision and strategy.

She is responsible for all of Yahoo!'s global business operations, including product marketing, sales and distribution.

Before joining the company she worked for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for almost 14 years, serving the firm as an as an equity research analyst before, more recently, performing the role of global director of equity research.

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Google finance officer set to retire

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:36:00 GMT

Google's chief financial officer (CFO) will retire by the end of this year, it has been announced.

George Reyes has been CFO at the search engine for five years and is now set to end his career at the age of 52.

Google has declined to comment on the reasons for Mr Reyes' departure. However, chairman of the company Eric Schmidt praised his colleague, saying "I've known and admired George since our days together at Sun [Microsystems]" and Google will "miss his thoughtfulness, good humour and wisdom".

He added that "as Google's CFO, George successfully navigated our innovative IPO, the regulatory demands of Sarbanes-Oxley, and the management challenges of scaling a global finance organisation."

Mr Reyes intends to remain in the job until a suitable successor has been found and the transition is anticipated to be complete some time before January.

Commenting on his departure, Mr Reyes expressed his honour at being part of the search engine's management team and described his time with the company as an "extraordinary ride".

He also said that he is confident that Google is being left in safe hands and will continue to build on its achievements.

Google cofounder Larry Page added his praise for his colleague, saying that he has maintained financial discipline within the company while also protecting its "entrepreneurial culture".

Mr Reyes has had a long and distinguished career within several Silicon Valley companies, including ONI Systems and Sun Microsystems.

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Google Sky gets its own astronaut

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:13:00 GMT

Search engine giant Google has hired former NASA astronaut Ed Lu, Wired.com reports.

The veteran space shuttle flyer left NASA earlier this month to pursue a career in the private sector and will be moving to California as part of his career change.

With a doctorate in astrophysics the Massachusetts-born space expert is expected to play a role in the development of Google applications, including Google Sky, Google Books and Google Scholar.

The recently launched Google Sky allows users to star gaze by accessing images of over one million stars and 200 million galaxies.

By clicking a button people can alter their view point from the Earth to the sky and can also see pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mr Lu, now 44 years old, has flown on two shuttle missions and has spent a total of six months on board the International Space Station as a member of the orbiting laboratory's crew.

First selected as an astronaut in 1994, he has spent six hours spacewalking and is a qualified mission specialist.

Google is set to benefit from Mr Lu's technical experience, which includes working in the astronaut office computer support branch at NASA and being lead astronaut for shuttle training.

Earlier this month, NAC Geographic Products announced the release of the NAC Enhanced Google Earth, which is intended to provide a language-independent, geographically complete and efficient method for computer users to scan the globe.

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Yahoo! management shows confidence

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:49:00 GMT

Yahoo! president Sue Decker has paid in the region of 1.1 million pounds for 47,000 of the search engine provider's shares.

Her share-buying began a day after the company's stock hit a three-year low at $22.44.

Ms Decker's spending was revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and is seen by many as a sign of her confidence in Yahoo!'s future.

Imran Khan, an analyst from JP Morgan, commented in a research note: "Usually, the buying and selling of stock by management is part of the normal landscape of business.

"However, we believe that this isolated incidence is evidence of increasing management confidence in company performance."

The move is in accordance with JP Morgan's belief that the search engine "has positioned itself for recovery in both the search and the display advertising markets", he added.

In June of this year, Jerry Yang replaced Terry Semel as Yahoo!'s chief executive officer.

Ms Decker, who previously headed the company's advertiser and publisher group as executive vice president, was moved to the position of president during the same management reshuffle.

Last month, Yahoo! also announced the appointment of its first female director, Maggie Wilderotter.

The move saw the company's first female director in its 12-year history as she joined the ten existing male members of the board.

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