Yahoo! India, which has a large presence in R&D, plans to continue hiring in the areas of product engineering, product management, architects, scientists, editors and designers.

The company currently has 2,000 employees out of the global headcount of 14,000. Over 20 per cent of Yahoo!'s patent filings come from India.

By this year-end, the company is planning a double-digit annual headcount growth (in percentage terms) for this year. “The top team is intact and we continue to focus on delivery,” said Ms Aparna Ballakur, Vice-President, HR, Yahoo! India.

It's exactly a month since Ms Carol Bartz, the then Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo! was fired over the phone. For days now, the industry is rife with rumours of a sell off of Yahoo's Asian holdings and imminent top exits across the world.

Business as usual

But it's business as usual at Yahoo! India, stresses Ms Ballakur. Commenting on internal morale given the industry buzz, she says that Yahoo! India employees are aware that talks of ‘Asian holdings being sold off' do not refer to the company's software development centre or Yahoo's businesses in India.

“What they (the external rumours) are referring to is the company's investments in the Asia Pacific region, like it has in China, Australia or Japan, but certainly not the software development centre or its offices in India.”

According to a Bangalore-based IT HR consultant, who has placed talent in the product engineering area and architects with Yahoo! in the last two months, “Given the unstable environment in the US economy, IT professionals are not looking for any MNC job beyond 18 months.”

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