Yahoo Silencing Own Writers Troubled by Layoff Rumors?

To contact us Click HERE
It is pretty normal for people who freelance for a company to be concerned about rumors of layoffs at Yahoo! So, one person asked in a Yahoo forum how it would impact Yahoo! Voices:

Several articles this morning report Yahoo! is planning a major restructuring to include "thousands of layoffs." Sources such as the Washington Post say the details will emerge at the end of this month.

Layoffs will be heaviest in "Yahoo’s product teams, and the axe may also fall on the company’s public relations and research teams." The layoffs are being led by the company's new CEO.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/yahoo-plans-serious-restructuring-report-says/2012/03/05/gIQA0zLdsR_story.html

Is Y!V considered part of a "product team?"

If Yahoo! does cut off Y!V, what happens to us?



The response by Yahoo! was this:

Hey all,

A couple contributors flagged this thread for an official response, but we can't comment on rumors reported by the press, or offer speculation about what would happen to YCN, Yahoo! Voices, or to contributors in various hypothetical scenarios. 

I completely understand why contributors are alarmed by rumors like these, but I am locking this thread. The forum is intended as a resource to contributors, to help you publish on YCN more successfully. It's OK to use this forum to discuss verified information about topics that directly impact YCN contributors, but threads like this inevitably give rise to unsubstantiated rumors that we can't directly address because of their speculative nature.

What I can tell you is this:

YCN is continuing to move full steam ahead with our integration into the Yahoo! media network, and we will continue to update you about any changes that impact contributors.


This is troubling since Yahoo! having a chance to contain an issue has instead chosen the route of silencing those who ask questions. The freelancers on Voices have good reason to be concerned since they have been impacted by Google panda, which Yahoo has failed to fix. They have already suffered layoffs in this company which have resulted in longer wait times for reviews (some for weeks), and articles which paid $20 5 years ago now are paid at pennies or by pay-per-view of which $2 per 1,000 is the highest rate. Further, articles on Voices are not promoted on Yahoo unless for another high traffic Yahoo site such as OMG! Resulting in lower views for these writers since this is almost an unacknowledged entity of Yahoo.


Yahoo acquired Associated Content in 2010 for approximately $100 million.