AOL Axes 20 Percent of Work Force

AOL will lay off 2,000 employees, or about 20 percent of its worldwide work force, the company announced Oct. 15, as the struggling Internet/media outfit tries to realign costs.

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About 1,200 of the affected workers are based in the United States, with 750 from AOLs Northern Virginia offices, including Dulles, the companys longtime headquarters, according to the Associated Press. AOL recently announced that it will be moving its headquarters to New York, to be closer to the media and advertising industrys center and its parent company, Time Warner.

Staff reductions begin Oct. 16 and take place over the next two months; affected individuals will receive at least four months pay, according to the New York Times.

In a notification letter sent to employees at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 and widely circulated, CEO Randy Falco told employees that "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 arent core to our business."

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