AOL Puts Out Call To Staff For Layoff Volunteers

<a On Wednesday WebNewser reported that AOL is rebranding its main news page as Sphere. Our post included a quote from Sphere’s “About” page regarding “the enthusiasm behind the project.”

Now AOL is asking employees to muster some enthusiasm for a new project. According to All Things Digital‘s Peter Kafka, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told his staff he’s looking for “up to 2,500 volunteers.” As in, volunteers to lose their jobs. Kafka writes:

The voluntary layoff program begins on December 4, a few days before the company spins off from Time Warner (TWX). If the company doesn’t get enough volunteers, it will axe people on its own.

It its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AOL said it intended to reduce its workforce by one-third “on a voluntary and involuntary basis” as part of a post-Time Warner restructuring.

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