By the time the NYTimes runs this story, it&#x27;s already over.<p>Internally, employees know well in advance when a company is headed downhill. When I was at LivingSocial, the best employees left at what appeared (externally) to be the peak of the company.<p>The trend was already apparent. Once you get to layoffs and press stories, your best employees have already gone. Two sayings that apply here:<p>1) If you&#x27;re not growing, you&#x27;re dying
2) People don&#x27;t leave companies, they leave managers<p>Retention is all about opportunity: personal and organizational. A talented employee with many other opportunities must believe that those above them are beyond competent (providing room for personal growth) and that the company is trending in a direction to make vast organizational change. People, especially top talent, want to be a part of something larger than themselves.<p>When Marissa Mayer started, that bought Yahoo time. They had the appearance of organizational change. Once that honeymoon period ended, however, there isn&#x27;t much to hold a great employee to Yahoo. At this point, if the best people are leaving, how do you recruit other A+ players? You can&#x27;t.<p>People are the core of a company and Yahoo is many years down the line of rotting from the inside out.