AOL's Layoffs Hit Virginia HQ And Tucson Operation

The AOL ax continues to fall as the firm announced that 450 employees were laid off at its corporate headquarters and another 50 at the firm's Tucson operation.

There was some good news to the job losses, however, as the firm said the recent round of layoffs was drawing to a conclusion. Last August, AOL said some 5,000 employees would lose their jobs as the firm trimmed its 19,000-person workforce

"The bulk of employee reductions we announced in August will have been completed," an AOL spokesman told the Reuters News Service.

AOL has said it is realigning its workforce to accommodate a major strategic business shift from paid services to an effort to generate revenues from Internet-based advertising.

At AOL's corporate headquarters in Virginia, layoffs have taken on a rite of autumn regularity -- the firm laid off substantial numbers of employees in 2004 and 2005. AOL said most of those laid off worked in centers focused on signing up Internet access subscribers.

AOL has also experienced major changes in the ranks of its top executives. Advertising executive Randy Falco was recently appointed chief executive for AOL and Ted Leonsis, who had been an AOL VP for years, said he plans to leave his position at the end of the year.

In a memo to employees, Falco said this week's cuts were the final round of the layoffs that were announced in August.

In Tucson, the loss of 50 employees will cut the Tucson work force to 150. The operation had once employed nearly 1,400.

Earlier this fall, the company announced it would shut down call centers and lay off 2,200 employees in the process.