Once a pioneer of the Internet, Yahoo is now making headlines for downsizing announcements around the globe. Most recently on the chopping block? Yahoo's Amman office in Jordan. A spokesperson said that the decision is part of its “global efforts to streamline operations.”
This news comes a week after the Web portal's announcement that they would be laying off 400 employees in India, which might have been the largest staff reduction during Marissa Mayer's two years as CEO . The company shuttered their Cairo, Egypt operations in late 2013 as well.
Yahoo plans to funnel their Jordan operations - an Arab-language and English-language Arab-focused Internet portal called Maktoob- to their offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Although they do plan on relocate some of their employees to their Dubai office, they will eliminate 80 jobs in the move, which accounts for less than 1% of their total workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. As of June 2014, the company employed 12,000 people globally.
The Internet portal entered the region five years ago with the acquisition of Maktoob, which is one of the most visited online news portals in the Arab world. Despite Maktoob's popularity, Yahoo said that the EMEA region only added $87 million to the $1.04 billion in revenues for Q2.
However, it hasn't always been dismal news for the Yahoo employees in Amman, Jordan. Watch below their offices' rendition of the Harlem Shake.