Internet major Yahoo India is finding it tough to attract experienced mid-level IT professionals

RELATED ARTICLES AI may hire new pilots if pilots don't end strike soon: Ajit Alibaba buys back 20% stake held by Yahoo for $7.1b Yahoo again in leadership turmoil as Thompson quits Yahoo CEO out, investor Loeb gets board seats US hiring slows, raising worries on recovery

these days. Call it the fear of uncertainty — due to the impending Microsoft-Yahoo deal and the after-effects of the downturn — techies are not as confident of joining the firm as they used to be.

IT professionals, especially those with 5-8 years of experience who got calls from Yahoo India, told Financial Chronicle that they were wary of joining the company because of the lack of clarity about the company’s future. The company’s HR strategy also isn’t clear to many, as they seem to be hiring and firing at the same pace.

Yahoo had laid-off over 60 employees in Bangalore when the company stopped investments in its map division. This time the fear is over the search engine division, with the new Microsoft-Yahoo deal.

An IT professional who got a call from Yahoo said, “I don’t want to join the company till there is clarity on the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. If I join now, I can either be laid-off because of restructuring or I could be asked to move to Microsoft.”

Yahoo declined to provide the number of employees working in the search division in Bangalore, but employs over 1,500 people in the country.

When FC sent a detailed questionnaire to the company enquiring about expected re-structuring of employees, a Yahoo spokesperson responded by saying, “Yahoo India continues to hire key talent across its businesses, both laterally and from top technical and business schools. We are a preferred destination for top tier technologists and business talent and this is reflected in the calibre of talent that we continue to bring on board.”

According to a Yahoo employee of five years, the company’s focus isn’t clear.

He said, “Microsoft has recently launched its search platform Bing so there are doubts over Yahoo’s search engine once the two come together. Search engine related work in Yahoo could be impacted. Migration of employees to Microsoft in the near future is also a concern.”

Said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO of Head Hunters India: “These guys with over 5 years of experience would rather join Indian IT firms since they are considered safer options.’’

The company is planning to increase the India R&D headcount by at least 150 people this year, even though it is in the middle of cost cutting and layoffs.