SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Jerry Yang told employees yesterday that the struggling Internet pioneer is still examining ways to avoid a takeover by rival Microsoft Corp.

"Our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape," Yang wrote in an e-mail. He emphasized no decision had been made on Microsoft's six-day-old bid, initially valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.

Yang, who helped conceive Yahoo in 1994, didn't set a timetable for the company's response, writing that the board "is going to take the time it needs to do it right."

Most of yesterday's e-mail, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, tried to cheer up Yahoo's employees, many of whom are likely to lose their jobs in the months ahead, one way or the other. Yahoo already has drawn up plans to trim 1,000 jobs from a 14,300-employee payroll in an effort to boost its sagging profits.