AOL cans 350 employees
AOL – America Online – has fired 350 employees in California and told 100 more they have to move East or lose their jobs too.
"The employees, mostly software developers and engineers, worked in San Diego, San Francisco and Mountain View, Calif," says a Washington Post report here. "The San Diego and San Francisco offices will be closed by year-end, and development work in California will be concentrated in Irvine and Mountain View.
"Those employees offered the chance to keep their jobs by relocating were given the option of working at the company’s Dulles headquarters or in White Plains, N.Y."
The latest round of cost cutting at the "Internet giant" is tied to its declining subscriber base, the report continues.
"Over the past year America Online, which connects more than 24 million subscribers in the United States to the Internet, has lost about 2 million customers to competitors offering faster or less expensive service."
Last spring, AOL cut 420 jobs in US call centers. America Online officials said they do not anticipate additional major cuts before the end of this year. Overall, AOL employs about 19,000 people worldwide, including 12,500 in the United States, adds the report.
