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October 15, 2007 9:14 AM PDT

AOL to lay off 20 percent of workforce

by Elinor Mills

More bad news at AOL

The company will begin laying off 2,000 employees out of a global workforce of 10,000 on Tuesday, according to an internal company-wide e-mail obtained by former Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget. An AOL representative confirmed the information.

(Credit: AOL)

In the e-mail sent to U.S. employees on Monday, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco says that the layoffs are needed to keep the operations efficient as the company continues its realignment from a subscription-based ISP to an ad-supported Web company. And he promises "generous severance packages."

"So where is this taking AOL? 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," Falco writes. "We're only a year and a month into our transformation, and the turnaround has been dramatic. We're now in a position to win as an advertising-supported business. We have a bright future as a company if we can execute on this vision."

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor.
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When It Reaches 100% I Will Be Satisfied
by sismoc October 15, 2007 2:49 PM PDT
AOL never had a viable long term business model.
They nearly killed Time-Warner.
The sooner AOL goes away the better.
Reply to this comment
naaa....
by bhoup22 October 16, 2007 2:17 PM PDT
They definately had a lot of problems with hackers that I don't believe they were prepared for. It practically took over their Internet service for at least a while. All-in-all, AOL was and still is a good company.
If only it would lay off 20% of its ads.....
by Jim Hubbard October 15, 2007 3:07 PM PDT
...then the software may at least be useable.
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AOL's days are over
by BaffyOfDaffy October 16, 2007 4:51 PM PDT
SOL used to be the best thing on the planet but they did not keep up with new technology. And they kept giving out free hours of internet, bad marketing now because we already know how good AOL is.
Reply to this comment
You guys really need to get with the times...
by RenoDavid October 17, 2007 4:52 PM PDT
Well, one of the four sort of has a clue as to what's going on with AOL. The rest are still thinking back 10 years. It's like judging today's Ford on the Edsel...
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