On the heels of reports that eBay CEO Meg Whitman will soon retire comes talk of layoffs at eBay from at least two Wall Street analysts. Jeetil Patel and Herman Leung of Deutsche Bank Securities wrote in their report issued on Tuesday, "While we had been hearing of a hiring freeze in 4Q, we think that eBay could look to reduce headcount modestly here in early 2008 in an effort to manage profitability. We think this move could help offset part of the business mix issue facing the company with the growth of PayPal and Skype."

Jordan Rohan, senior tech analyst at RBC Capital Markets, issued a note on Tuesday stating that 2008 could be a transitional time period for the company, and writing, "We are unsure if layoffs will be announced or effected."

Media outlets have been reporting today that Yahoo may be laying off hundreds of workers (http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/01/22/Yahoo-plans-to-cut-staff_1.html).

eBay is set to report earnings today (Wednesday).