Last fall, AOL laid off 5,000 of its workers as it made significant strides towards an online advertising-based business model. Starting this past Tuesday, AOL will begin laying off a fifth of its worldwide workforce, or 2,000 employees.
Randy Falco, AOL’s Chief Executive, summed up the move by saying, “This realignment will allow us to increase investment in high-growth areas of the company — as an example, we added hundreds of people this year through acquisitions — while scaling back in areas with less growth potential or those that aren’t core to our business.” This was stated in an e-mail sent to AOL employees on Monday.
He also added, “Put simply, my vision for AOL is to build the largest and most sophisticated global advertising network while we grow the size and engagement of our worldwide audience.”
Severance packages will range from two to 12 months of pay, depending on how long the employee has been with the company.
While last year’s layoffs were primarily aimed at cutting down marketing and customer service branches of the business, this year’s layoffs will affect employees across departments.
There is still speculation that Time Warner could decide to separate itself from AOL and/or its advertising businesses through a sale or a spin off.
About 1,200 of the 2,000 employees affected are located in the U.S. They were informed on Tuesday of their termination, while employees overseas will be notified before the year is over.
Sources:
http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/blogs/living-loco/2007/
oct/15/aols-falco-says-2000-layoffs/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119246232698859353.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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