Verizon is eliminating over
10,400 jobs in phased buyouts while admitting that its media business -- formerly known as Oath -- is failing, Ars Technica reported late on Thursday, based on a Securities and Exchange Commission
filing.
The former Oath brand, the brainchild of former Verizon CEO Tim Armstrong, includes the Yahoo Mail and AOL email services.
The staff reductions were slated for several
business segments in addition to Oath, Ars Technica reports. Still, the future of the Oath properties is uncertain.
In its SEC filing, Verizon writes:
“Verizon's Media
business, branded Oath, has experienced increased competitive and market pressures throughout 2018 that have resulted in lower-than-expected revenues and earnings. These pressures are expected to
continue and have resulted in a loss of market positioning to our competitors in the digital advertising business. Oath has also achieved lower-than-expected benefits from the integration of the Yahoo
Inc. and AOL Inc. businesses.”
Half of the departures are expected to take place this month, and the remainder next June.
Yahoo Mail was plagued with outages last winter as the
company sought to integrate technologies.
Despite saving up to $4 billion due to the recent tax cut, Verizon says a $4.6 billion charge will wipe out Oath’s goodwill value, the report
continues.