AOL wants 2,500 employees to voluntarily resign

Just in time for its spin-off from Time Warner, AOL's new chief Tim Armstrong has given company employees a stern mandate: 2,500 of you need to accept a voluntary layoff from December 4 through December 11. To add insult to injury, if not enough workers come forward, the company will get out its scissors and begin cutting employees.

AOL's proposed job cuts are part of an overall restructuring process that the company claims will help it cut $300 million in annual costs.

But what's perhaps more surprising is that Armstrong, who has already ousted [1] a good portion of AOL's management team, is also going to share the pain. A reports in the San Jose Mercury News revealed that Armstrong won't take his bonus this year, which was going to be about $1.5 million. "As a member of our team and the person who takes accountability for the results of the company, I am making the decision to forego my 2009 bonus," the Mercury News quoted Armstrong as saying.

Armstrong, a former Google executive, has his work cut out for him in achieving his goal to become an online media content powerhouse. Since 2007, AOL has seen its dial-up subscriptions and advertising take a nose dive.

For more:
- VON has this article [2]

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AOL's new chief cleans out the management house [1]
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[3]Time Warner Cable: No, we're not merging with Comcast
[4]TWC's Q3 voice, Internet revenues up, while basic video falls [5] [3]