(Updates with details about Yahoo's planned job cuts in fifth paragraph.)
By Scott Morrison
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Silicon Valley recruiters have quickly ramped up their efforts to lure software developers, project managers and key executives away from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) in the wake of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) $44.6 billion offer to buy the struggling Internet giant.
Microsoft's ability to retain Yahoo staff has been a key concern among Wall Street analysts, as well as at the company itself, should the software giant succeed in winning control of its target. But comments from recruiters suggest that Yahoo employees and other Silicon Valley companies already starved for talent aren't waiting around for Microsoft to win over Yahoo's management and board.
"Ninety percent of our clients are asking for Yahoo talent, particularly in the last two weeks," said Bruce Brown, managing partner at executive search firm Daversa Partners.
Brown said recruiters have been targeting Yahoo employees for several months, but interest in the company's 14,300 employees has increased in the wake of Microsoft's proposed acquisition, which the software company hopes will give it the scale and technological prowess it needs to compete with Google Inc. (GOOG) in the Internet search and advertising market.
Yahoo, under fire for losing its focus and losing ground to Google, announced just days before Microsoft's offer that it would cut as many as 1,000 jobs by mid-February. The company, however, did not provide additional details.
Craig Silverman, a partner at recruiting network and job exchange HireAbility.com LLC, said the rush to lure Yahoo talent is not unexpected given the uncertainty prompted by Microsoft's unsolicited offer. Yahoo's board on Monday rejected Microsoft's bid, raising the prospect of a drawn-out takeover battle that could last months.
"Any time recruiters sense difficult times in a company, where there could be a merger or acquisition, there is a sharklike feeding frenzy in which recruiters become more focused on attracting people from that organization," said Silverman.
Silicon Valley recruiters were not willing to discuss clients by name, but it was widely understood that most, if not all, of the industry's largest companies were eager to tap into Yahoo's talent pool. None of the top firms, including Google, Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Saleforce.com Inc. (CRM) have publicly expressed interest in Yahoo employees.
Google said it had not changed its recruitment practices, while Oracle and Salesforce declined to comment.
A recruiter at one Silicon Valley firm, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his firm is a client of Yahoo, said the tech titans would prefer to let recruiters cull the best Yahoo employees from a much broader pool.
"I think they don't have the internal resources to handle an influx of Yahoo people. They would rely heavily on their preferred vendors to funnel people through," the recruiter said.
Silicon Valley companies are most interested in project managers, user interface designers, mobile applications developers and software designers who have experience with Apple's Macintosh operating system, the recruiter said.
"We're focused on (Yahoo's) technical talent. That is what we're looking at," echoed Mary Voss, chief executive of Foxhunt, a boutique Silicon Valley recruiting firm.
Voss also noted the list of companies actively pursuing Yahoo employees for the first time includes a number of startups, which in the past would have had a much more difficult time attracting workers from an Internet titan such as Yahoo.
Brown agreed that suitor companies have become more interested in Yahoo following Microsoft's bid. "It's a feeding frenzy. It's just been outrageously competitive, from startups to big publicly traded companies."
Brown also said that some Yahoo executives are suddenly expressing much more interest in getting to know his recruiters as well. "Key executives we couldn't get before are spending more time getting to know us now."
Not all recruiters are seeing an increase in activity. Jason Kranz, a recruiter at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said his firm had not yet noted heightened interest in top Yahoo brass. He added, however, that top- level executives that his firm typically places would be more likely to wait until a merger was completed and the combined company's structure was more clearly defined
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Silicon Valley recruiters have quickly ramped up their efforts to lure software developers, project managers and key executives away from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) in the wake of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) $44.6 billion offer to buy the struggling Internet giant.
Microsoft's ability to retain Yahoo staff has been a key concern among Wall Street analysts, as well as at the company itself, should the software giant succeed in winning control of its target. But comments from recruiters suggest that Yahoo employees and other Silicon Valley companies already starved for talent aren't waiting around for Microsoft to win over Yahoo's management and board.
"Ninety percent of our clients are asking for Yahoo talent, particularly in the last two weeks," said Bruce Brown, managing partner at executive search firm Daversa Partners.
Brown said recruiters have been targeting Yahoo employees for several months, but interest in the company's 14,300 employees has increased in the wake of Microsoft's proposed acquisition, which the software company hopes will give it the scale and technological prowess it needs to compete with Google Inc. (GOOG) in the Internet search and advertising market.
Yahoo, under fire for losing its focus and losing ground to Google, announced just days before Microsoft's offer that it would cut as many as 1,000 jobs by mid-February. The company, however, did not provide additional details.
Craig Silverman, a partner at recruiting network and job exchange HireAbility.com LLC, said the rush to lure Yahoo talent is not unexpected given the uncertainty prompted by Microsoft's unsolicited offer. Yahoo's board on Monday rejected Microsoft's bid, raising the prospect of a drawn-out takeover battle that could last months.
"Any time recruiters sense difficult times in a company, where there could be a merger or acquisition, there is a sharklike feeding frenzy in which recruiters become more focused on attracting people from that organization," said Silverman.
Silicon Valley recruiters were not willing to discuss clients by name, but it was widely understood that most, if not all, of the industry's largest companies were eager to tap into Yahoo's talent pool. None of the top firms, including Google, Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Saleforce.com Inc. (CRM) have publicly expressed interest in Yahoo employees.
Google said it had not changed its recruitment practices, while Oracle and Salesforce declined to comment.
A recruiter at one Silicon Valley firm, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his firm is a client of Yahoo, said the tech titans would prefer to let recruiters cull the best Yahoo employees from a much broader pool.
"I think they don't have the internal resources to handle an influx of Yahoo people. They would rely heavily on their preferred vendors to funnel people through," the recruiter said.
Silicon Valley companies are most interested in project managers, user interface designers, mobile applications developers and software designers who have experience with Apple's Macintosh operating system, the recruiter said.
"We're focused on (Yahoo's) technical talent. That is what we're looking at," echoed Mary Voss, chief executive of Foxhunt, a boutique Silicon Valley recruiting firm.
Voss also noted the list of companies actively pursuing Yahoo employees for the first time includes a number of startups, which in the past would have had a much more difficult time attracting workers from an Internet titan such as Yahoo.
Brown agreed that suitor companies have become more interested in Yahoo following Microsoft's bid. "It's a feeding frenzy. It's just been outrageously competitive, from startups to big publicly traded companies."
Brown also said that some Yahoo executives are suddenly expressing much more interest in getting to know his recruiters as well. "Key executives we couldn't get before are spending more time getting to know us now."
Not all recruiters are seeing an increase in activity. Jason Kranz, a recruiter at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said his firm had not yet noted heightened interest in top Yahoo brass. He added, however, that top- level executives that his firm typically places would be more likely to wait until a merger was completed and the combined company's structure was more clearly defined
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