Recruiting in China

Internet giant Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it planned to lay off at least 10 percent of its workforce over the next few months as sales declined for the third consecutive quarter this year.

At least 1,500 employees will lose their jobs as part of Yahoo's cost-saving plan, which Yahoo hoped would reduce costs by 400 million U.S. dollars a year.

The company said it would also achieve "substantial additional cost savings" by addressing "structural inefficiencies."

Also on Tuesday, Yahoo said its third-quarter sales, excluding commissions, were 1.32 billion dollars, a decrease of 21 million from the previous quarter.

Its third quarter profits were 54.3 million dollars, or 4 cents per share, down 77 million dollars from the previous quarter, a 64-percent decline.

In a statement, Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang said that economic conditions and online advertising had softened during the third quarter.

Yahoo now projects that 2008 revenue will be between 7.18 billion and 7.38 billion dollars, down from a forecast, issued three months ago, of 7.35 billion to 7.85 billion.

Yang said the company would continue to balance the investment in new products with a tight control on costs.

"Despite a tough environment, we remain optimistic about Yahoo's future," he said during a conference call with analysts.

Following the release of the third quarter revenue report, Yahoo shares lost 6.1 percent, or 79 cents, to 12.07 dollars in regular trading on Tuesday and then gained more than 5 percent in after-hours trading.