Yahoo to exit from China
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Yahoo Inc is set to completely exit from China this year, after the United States-based technology giant said it was shutting its research and development centre in Beijing.
The company's decision to end its only physical presence in the Chinese mainland could eliminate as many as 300 jobs, industry sources said on Thursday. Yahoo, however, declined to specify the actual number of jobs that would be made redundant.
"We are constantly making changes to align resources, and to foster better collaboration and innovation across our business. Today (Wednesday) we informed our employees based in Beijing that we will be closing our office there," a statement said.
The workers, mostly engineers, will be relieved from their posts by the end of this month, according to The South China Morning Post.
Richard Kramer, the London-based managing director of Arete Research, an equity research firm, said: "The mainland has not been a major part of Yahoo's strategy for many years, even though the company has good legacy businesses in Hong Kong and Taiwan".
The company's announcement, however, did not surprise most industry experts, as they feel that company has been under increasing pressure from shareholders to reduce costs and improve profits.
Yahoo's other two R&D facilities, one located in its headquarters in California and the other in Bengaluru, India, have also been affected by job cuts in recent months.
