Reshaping AOL: Cutting Up To 5,000 Jobs In 6 Months; Free 5G Storage En Route

The fallout from the AOL restructuring: it will cut as many as 5,000 jobs, or a quarter of its global work force, within six months, reports AP. An unknown number of European employees will still have jobs but with a different company as AOL looks to shed its ISP businesses in France, Germany and the U.K. AOL currently has 3,000 access employees in Europe.
Update: AOL also announced another in what will be a parade of new features to draw users — starting in early September, anyone with an AOL or AIM screenname will be eligible for 5G of free storage via AOL’s Xdrive. The same storage space for non-users runs $10 a month. The storage space will be accessible from PC opr mobile, can be shared, has automatic backup, and can be used to store any files including photos, music and video. Users can upgrade to premium accounts for 50G.
– Switching process cumbersome: New users can sign up for free AOL accounts online but current subs can’t switch without calling a toll-free number that could be a lot easier to find. The switch by phone also comes with pitches for pay services. TW shareholder Michael Parekh details his journey from paid to free and it should be a must-read for AOL execs: “What a lost opportunity to get existing and/or new users excited about the new, ad-supported AOL. Instead, it was more of the same old attempts at telemarketing.” (As a service to our readers, the toll-free number is 1-800-984-6207.)

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