America Online cut 300 jobs from its rolls on Wednesday,
a spokesman for the company confirmed. The layoffs had been expected as part
of a plan to turn around AOL, following a two-year drop in sales and revenue
which CEO
Jon Miller discussed last week.
A spokesman said about half of the job cuts took place in the company’s
northern Virginia headquarters. Another 60 positions were eliminated in
AOL’s Mountain View, Calif. office, where its Netscape and other technology
groups are located. The balance of the cuts were scattered across other AOL
divisions, the spokesman said.
During AOL’s analyst meeting in New York a week ago, Miller had said that layoffs would be part of the company’s turnaround plan, which also includes a strategy for growing its broadband subscriber base, and building new incremental commerce and advertising revenues. The cost-cutting measures were expected to reach about $100 million.
It was unclear whether more job cuts were planned across AOL divisions. A spokesman said the latest round of layoffs concluded reduction in force measures for 2002. The layoffs were the third major round of cuts at AOL this year.