• D: All Things Digital, Monday, December 8, 2008 12:01 PM

Kara Swisher has the sad news that Yahoo this Wednesday will execute the layoffs that the company announced during its last earnings call on Oct. 21. The current number is 1,500, although sources tell Swisher that the eventual numbers could total 2,000 when all is said and done. "Things have changed since these layoffs were announced," said one source close to the situation. "But those additional cuts might not come Wednesday, but through attrition and a hiring freeze first."

The layoffs are mostly across the board, but general, human resources and finance are expected to take the biggest hits. Sources say Yahoo execs aren't expecting too many extremely upset employees, because the layoffs have been long anticipated. Most employees have no idea whether they will be let go, as management has not made the cuts public, but whole projects might be eliminated, and others might be shifted among big managers in anticipation of a new company CEO.

Speaking of which, Jerry Yang's successor has not been named, although Swisher thinks this week would be the perfect time to do so to get the focus off bad news at Yahoo. As Yang told her after the cuts were announced: "In the short term, we have consolidation and organizational corrections to make. In the long term, we will look at our whole portfolio and are now asking ourselves in each case if we need to be in this business. We're asking ourselves-should we sell it or should we shut it down? That is the kind of comprehensive look we are doing across the company."

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