AOL is shutting down most of its key offices in Europe and off-loading another round of employees this week, affecting more than 1000 staff.
The freshly de-merged company states that it did not get a good response to its voluntary redundancy plan with only 1,100 workers volunteering to take an exit package. The goal was 2,500.
The voluntary layoff program was announced in November as part of its Project Everest restructure, for which it had allocated $200 million (€137m) in severance and related costs.
In a New-Year missive from management yesterday, AOL announced that it has already started closing many offices in Europe, beginning with those in Spain and Sweden.
“We began meeting with employees throughout Europe today. For example meetings have already taken place in the UK, Germany and France, and we announced plans to shut down many of our offices in Europe, beginning with those in Spain and Sweden,” the memo said.
Media reports suggest that the German and UK offices may remain with skeleton staff but AOL has not confirmed the details as yet.
Back in the US the majority of those affected by involuntary layoff would be advised on Wednesday. “For many of the employees impacted in the US, Wednesday will be their last day in the office,” it said.
The Project Everest cuts, aimed at cutting expenses by $300 million a year, will take AOL from its high of 20,000 staff globally to around 4,400 employees.