Details of AOL’s Voluntary Layoff Plan

On Thursday WebNewser reported that AOL is seeking as many as 2,500 employees to step up and take a severance deal.

Now the Wall Street Journal has some details on AOL’s “Voluntary Separation Program”:

The company said Thursday it is asking for up to 2,500 people across all divisions to take buyout packages during a one-week program starting Dec. 4. If AOL doesn’t reach that target, it intends to make involuntary layoffs, leaving the company with about 4,400 employees. …

Employees who volunteer in December to give up their jobs will receive three to nine months pay and other benefits, depending on rank, a person familiar with the matter said. Employees who are laid off involuntarily will receive a package of one to four months.

Interestingly, WSJ reported, even amid the layoffs AOL is hiring for “some positions that [CEO Tim] Armstrong has pinpointed as essential to its growth, such as journalists.”

Armstrong, a former Google executive, is attempting to reposition AOL from provider of subscription-based services to digital content powerhouse.

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