Yahoo's long-rumored layoff of thousands of employees could begin in the next few days, AllThingsD says, citing multiple sources. A restructuring of the company could begin as early as next week. Top managers met last week, supposedly to hear the plans of CEO Scott Thompson. The reorganization seems aimed at turning Yahoo into a media and advertising company, at least in the short to medium term. As for the layoffs:

Sources said the cuts will be deep and mostly aimed at the product, research and marketing units of Yahoo. The ultimate goal, said multiple sources, is to cut many thousands from Yahoo’s staff of close to 14,000 employees, which is actually much larger, due to contract workers not officially in its roster. The entire cut will not take place at once, said sources, since Thompson and others are still trying to figure out how to dispense with its ad technology org and, potentially, its search business. He has been in discussions with both Microsoft and Google about this, although there are other possibilities, too. Both these parts of Yahoo together have about 2,500 staffers, whose fate is not yet sorted out.

The restructured Yahoo will "most likely" include global media, communications and search, and sales. A group of 50 or so would focus on future innovation. Adding to Yahoo's fun this week: A group of the company's investors has launched a website, Value Yahoo, which delves into the company's shortcomings and advocates independent directors divorced from the "inside" board's previous strategies.