14 DAY TRIAL // Things are going great at Yahoo, so great, in fact, that everyone is off to celebrate for an entire week; regardless if they like it or not. The company has just issued a mandatory company-wide shutdown of all but "essential" operations for a week starting December 25, 2009 until January 1, 2010. It's the first time that the company issues such a move worldwide, but it has had similar 'vacations' in the US. Apparently, the shutdown was made known to the employees since summer.
The shutdown "during a traditionally slow week allows employees to recharge, and the company to reduce operating costs for the week," Yahoo spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek told the Wall Street Journal. Employees in the US will be able to use their vacation time for the days which don't fall into the regular holiday schedule in order to get paid or they can take unpaid leave. Elsewhere, Yahoo says it will follow local laws and practices to handle the free days. Some functions will be operational though and Yahoo says customer service will function as regular for the period.
The reason behind the shutdown is, of course, cost cutting as the company isn't doing very well financially, despite all the talk of a comeback. It has been undergoing a big cost cutting campaign, shutting down services and letting people go on several occasions. Yahoo is focusing on its core services and hopes to slim down in order to turn things around financially, but so far, it hasn't managed to pull off any miracles and people are starting to lose faith in the CEO leading this campaign Carol Bartz.
Week-long shutdowns aren't uncommon at big corporations, especially in the tough economic conditions. Adobe will be following through with similar plans and the company regularly issues mandatory time off in typically slow periods of the year. Apple is apparently doing the very same thing, though in this case, it certainly doesn't need the savings.