Verizon plans to lay off about 15% of the combined global workforce of its AOL and Yahoo units, a total of more than 2,000 employees, once the company completes its acquisition of the search engine pioneer.
News of the layoffs were first reported by technology website TechCrunch. Sources familiar with the companies confirmed the 15% figure, adding that it has been expected for more than a year and that such staff restructurings are common in deals of this size.
AOL agreed to purchase Yahoo in July for $4.83 billion but later reduced that price to $4.5 billion after a series of data breaches at the search pioneer. The company had said it hoped to close the deal by mid-June, and Tech Crunch reported that a proxy vote is taking place Thursday, meaning the deal could be finalized within a week. AOL and Yahoo have a combined workforce of about 14,000 people.
In April, Verizon said AOL and Yahoo would be combined in a new unit called Oath.
