The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Aol

AOL swings the axe: 900 jobs go in the US and India

Author

By The Drum Team, Editorial

March 11, 2011 | 3 min read

Everyone knew that the AOL-Huffpo merger would mean jobs cuts - but 900? Critics of the US practice of exporting jobs are relieved that the bulk of the cuts will be far from home.

Two hundred of these being axed worked in the US on the content and engineering staffs ; AOL said it would cut 400 jobs in India and shift another 300 jobs there to an outsourcing firm. It will "change the focus" in India from back office support to creating new products for Asia.

After the cuts, AOL's total payroll will be around 4000. CEO Tim Armstrong wouldn't say exactly who was going until all affected had been told, but a Forbes writer who used to work for AOL said, "It sure sounds like AOL’s news, politics and business/finance sites are simply going away."

At AOL News, Daily Finance , Walletpop and Politics Daily only a handful of staffers have been told they’re being kept on.

In a memo on the cuts, Armstrong said: “AOL will be replacing approximately $20 million of loss in our news and finance operation with a high growth company and a team that is pioneering the way the world gets information.”

But not all of the sites wiped out were contributing to that loss, said the man from Forbes. Walletpop, AOL’s personal finance site, named by Time as one of the 25 best financial blogs, was profitable. AOL Games was the worst-performing site.

AOL Finance has slipped badly recently, losing 41% of its audience. Politics Daily dropped 32% . But AOL News increased its audience 30% over the past year, along with AOL Tech, which drew in 49% more viewers. Armstrong has been pushing for more local content : Patch, the ultra-local AOL operation attracted 4.4 million, up from 69,000.

At the Digital Hollywood Summit in New York, Armstrong said AOL and Huffington Post would be hiring more journalists in the near future, increasing editorial headcount from 50% to 75% in the coming year.

Aol

More from Aol

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +