The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Yahoo is asking most non-essential employees to take the week after the Christmas holiday off, using vacation or unpaid leave, in an effort to save money. Is that the way to save Yahoo! or any struggling company? Can you do better? If so, keep reading to share your comments.

In previous years the once mighty search and media giant “encouraged” employees to take time off to save the company money but this is the first time that it has been required. The Journal fairly pointed out that other technology companies including Adobe and Apple either close or shut down in the same period. Adobe and Apple however aren't in the same straights as Yahoo!.

I would imagine that running a company the size of Yahoo! has its challenges, but I’d like to propose an alternative to closing the doors entirely. I’ve found that the weeks around the Christmas and New Years holidays are most certainly less busy than other times throughout the year but it's also a great time to get work done that you've been putting off. So why not use that time to come up with ideas which generate revenue?

Not sure where I read this but I am a believer in it – you can’t get rich by saving money no matter how much you save. You need to find new revenue streams to create wealth. So here’s how I would save Yahoo!: I would ask each and every employees to take the week (their choice, paid or unpaid) to consider how at least one company project or offering that they work on can be expanded in an effort to generate revenue for the company. Not only would you find the most creative people in the company you might just find the missing piece to your success.

So how about you? How would you save Yahoo!? Post your ideas (they can be very specific about Yahoo! services) below and share with the community. By the time they return to work, we should have a health list of ideas for them ready to go.