Yahoo to lay off more than 20% of staff to restructure its ad tech division

(Reuters) -Yahoo said on Thursday it plans to lay off more than 20% of its total workforce as part of a major restructuring of its ad tech division.

The cuts will impact nearly 50% of Yahoo's ad tech employees by the end of this year, including nearly 1,000 employees this week, the company said.

Yahoo, which is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management since a $5 billion buyout in 2021, added that the move would enable the company to narrow its focus and investment on its flagship ad business called DSP, or demand-side platform.

This comes as many advertisers have pared back their marketing budgets in response to record-high inflation rates and continued uncertainty about a recession.

A raft of U.S. companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc to Alphabet Inc have also laid off thousands this year to ride out a demand downturn wrought by high inflation and rising interest rates.

Axios first reported the news of the layoffs at Yahoo.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shailesh Kuber)