The year 2009 saw the ugliest face of slowdown -- layoffs. The tough economic climate led to companies of almost all sizes, across industries and verticals, cut manpower to rein in costs.The scenario was no different in the technology sector, where from Microsoft to Yahoo to Sapient all cut headcount to cope up with the slowdown pressure.
Here's looking at some of the biggest layoffs in the IT industry in 2009.

Microsoft may accelerate up to $150 million in reimbursements due Yahoo if their proposed Internet search partnership is approved by regulators.The new timetable disclosed on Thursday was among the minor changes that Microsoft and Yahoo made to an agreement reached in July. The companies signed the final contract last week.Yahoo may now collect the entire $150 million by June 30 next year if it's working with Microsoft by then.

Yahoo Inc will let users of its email, photo-sharing and other online products link their content and activities directly into Facebook, the world's No. 1 Internet social network.Yahoo's support of the Facebook Connect service, which it said it expects to begin in the first half of 2010, represents an important move in Yahoo's efforts to tap the popularity of social networking and underscores the growing clout of Facebook, which now counts more than 350 million worldwide users.

Michael Jackson's stunning death made him Yahoo's biggest star in 2009.The quest to find out what happened to Jackson in his final hours on June 25 and celebrate his legacy elevated the late entertainer to the top of the Internet company's annual breakdown of the most frequent online search requests.The self-proclaimed King of Pop ended singer Britney Spears' four-year reign atop Yahoo's search rankings.