Yahoo! to! ax! 10%! of! product! staff! says! report!

Yahoo! is set to lay off about 10 per cent of its product staff, according to a report citing sources "close to the situation."

All Things Digital reports that the web giant will lay off around 650 of the 6500 workers in its product organization, now headed by former Microsoftee Blake Irving, and possibly more in other organizations. Yahoo! has more than 14,000 employees.

The layoffs were originally reported by TechCrunch, but the bloggy thing said that 20 per cent of Yahoo!'s entire staff would be cut, and the company has denied this figure. "Yahoo is always evaluating expenses to align with the company's financial goals. However, a 20 percent reduction in Yahoo's workforce across the board is misleading and inaccurate," the company said in a statement to All Things Digital.

The company did not immediately respond when we asked for confirmation of the statement.

The apparent lay-offs are in stark contrast to this week's news from Google, where the entire staff was given 10 per cent raises and a holiday bonus. But this wasn't good news for everyone at Google. Mountain View apparently fired the guy who leaked word of the sweeping pay rise. ®

Update

Yahoo! has confirmed its statement.