Yahoo axes more than 300 jobs in India as Marissa Mayer pushes ahead with restructuring

Mayer pushes ahead with restructuring as Starboard Value piles on pressure to slash costs at Yahoo

Yahoo! President and CEO Marissa Mayer (GETTY IMAGES)

Yahoo is set to axe more than 300 jobs at its India office as the tech giant scales back its engineering facilities outside its California headquarters.

Yahoo had 2,000 employees in Bangalore as of March last year, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter. Only a small group of employees, less than 5 per cent according to reports, will be transferred to Yahoo's Sunnyvale HQ.

Chief executive Marissa Mayer had reportedly been considering layoffs in the country from the moment she joined the company two years ago. Yahoo declined to comment on the numbers, but conceded that it is pushing for "consolidation of certain teams".

"We’re making some changes to the way we operate in Bangalore leading to consolidation of certain teams into fewer offices. Yahoo will continue to have a presence in India and Bangalore remains an important office," the company said in a statement.

The announcement comes after activist investor Starboard Value warned of "bloated" structure costs and urged the company to stop making acquisitions. Starboard also called on Yahoo to explore a merger with AOL.

At the time, Mayer said Yahoo would "review" Starboard's letter careful and insisted the board is determined to act in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.

Yahoo, once seen as a pioneer in the tech sector, has struggled to keep up with rivals Facebook and Google. The company has taken on an ambitious turnaround strategy under Mayer but Wall Street is growing increasingly impatient for results.

Mayer is also under renewed pressure following the Alibaba IPO, in which Yahoo made $9.4 billion from selling 140 million shares in the Chinese e-commerce giant with investors waiting to see she does next.

Last week, it was reported Yahoo was nearing a close to $20 million investment in Snapchat, the app which allows users to send pictures that are automatically deleted, at a $10 billion valuation. Yahoo has bought more than two dozen companies, including Tumblr and Summly, under Mayer.