Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer: Morale is on the rise

On Yahoo's first quarter 2013 earnings conference call this afternoon, chief executive Marissa Mayer said that morale is already improving at the beleaguered technology company.

She said:

The commitment we've made to make Yahoo the absolute best place to work is already leading to better employee collaboration, innovation and execution. As of today, we've implemented more than 567 employee-focused initiatives across the company, including a new program that encourages all employees to test and improve our latest products, which is yielding excellent, exciting new thinking.

As a result of these initiatives, the data is undeniable. Today, more people are applying to work at Yahoo and more employees are staying. In Q1, the number of resumes we received more than tripled over the course of the quarter. And reflecting on this period last year, the number of candidates applying Yahoo! s has nearly doubled. Our attrition rate for top talent is essentially half of what it was just a year ago.

And with the renewed excitement around Yahoo, we're seeing a steady increase in what we call "boomerangs." They have rejoined. In fact, 14 percent of the hires we made in the first quarter were boomerangs, one in every seven.

Mayer said building positive company culture among its 11,300 employees was the first part of her strategy - "getting people to believe in Yahoo, making Yahoo a really terrific place to work and contribute and getting the organization fit," she said - and the second phase will follow with "building beautiful products and executing well against our business strategy."

"As I said before, companies with the best talent win," she said, "and it's clear we're now back in the game."