Yahoo knows which side their bread is buttered on – they’re wooing the public and don’t seem to care if they incense former staffers.
According to reports, Yahoo was paying baggage fees for customers on outbound flights from both a San Jose and a San Fransisco airport – something that raised eyebrows when stacked against the cost cutting ‘mandatory vacation’ employees were forced to take over Christmas/New Year week.
A spokesperson claims the action was not started by Yahoo the company, but that it was a “spontaneous effort” that involved Yahoo employees paying the luggage fees of San Jose travelers using the American Airlines ticket counter this morning “because they had flights at the time we were at the airport, and passengers were checking in.” This afternoon, Yahoo employees are at SFO but the spokesperson doesn’t know what airline(s) they’re working with.
On the flip side of the coin, again, former Yahoo employees Joshua Schachter and Rasmus Lerdorf Tweeted that their names are being used in targeted AdWords campaigns – advertising openings in their former employer’s workforce. Joshua tweeted sarcastically that he thought it was ‘classy’.
What is Yahoo doing? Is it really Yahoo, or is it (as claimed) merely cheerful Yahoo employees spreading Christmas cheer… and possibly, as one person pointed out, a Google happy odd-job having a spot of fun at Schachter’s and Lerdorf’s behalf?
Tags: AdWords, airlijne, Google, recruiting, Yahoo