Yahoo! Inc is planning its second round of layoffs in six weeks, while rival Google Inc is preparing its biggest-ever year for hiring, underscoring the divergent paths of two of the Internet's biggest names.

Yahoo said on Tuesday it will cut 1 percent of a global work force that stood at about 14,100 at the end of the third quarter, just weeks after announcing it would lay off about 4 percent, or roughly 600 people, from its work force.

In an official blogpost on Tuesday, Google said that 2011 will set a record in terms of hiring - beating 2007, when it added more than 6,000 people to its roster, and last year, when it hired 4,500.

"I am excited about 2011 because it will be our biggest hiring year in company history. We're looking for top talent across the board and around the globe," Google Senior Vice President of Engineering and Research, Alan Eustace, said.

News of Yahoo's latest layoffs come hours before the web media company is due to report fourth-quarter financial results after Tuesday's market close, with analysts expecting revenue to decline roughly 5.6 percent annually.

A Yahoo spokeswoman told Reuters in an e-mail statement the latest cuts are part of the company's strategy to position itself for net revenue growth and margin expansion, and that Yahoo will continue to hire to support key priorities.

The company would not say exactly how many employees would be laid off in the latest round of reductions. In December, the web portal said it would lay off about 4 percent of its workforce, mostly in Yahoo's product group.

Its share fell 1 percent, or 13 cents, to US$15.96, in afternoon trading on Tuesday. Google's stock rose 0.9 percent to US$616.75.