AOL said Monday it is laying off 2,000 employees worldwide as part of a previously announced restructuring program. Approximately 1,200 U.S. workers – including 750 at the company’s current headquarters in Dulles, Virginia — are affected.
This latest reduction of about 20% of AOL’s workers follows last month’s announcement that the company was streamlining from an Internet access provider to an online advertising company.
In a memo distributed on Monday to the company’s 10,000 employees, chairman and chief executive Randy Falco wrote that this “reduction in force” will play out over the next couple of months.
“Everyone impacted by this reduction deserves our thanks and respect for their contributions to the company. We will aid these individuals in their transition to new opportunities as much as possible, most importantly with what we believe are generous severance packages,” he wrote in the memo.
AOL announced in September it is relocating to New York. The new headquarters includes leased office space at 770 Broadway in Manhattan, which will include all advertising and programming operations. AOL will continue to have operations in Dulles, as well as offices in Mountain View, California, and other locations.
“New York City is the center of advertising, so it makes perfect sense to locate our corporate headquarters here,” Falco said in September.
On Friday, the company’s executive vice president and head of human resources, Lance Miyamoto, stepped down from his post.
AOL’s head of HR in Europe also left the company last week, and there is speculation that European workers will face another large round of layoffs soon.
In August 2006, AOL laid off about 5,000 positions.