More On AOL In Europe: Layoffs In France And Germany, Higher Numbers In UK

Following on from yesterday’s post on AOL (NYSE: TWX) negotiating 13 redundancies in the UK, more numbers are trickling in today: the number of layoffs in the UK is closer to 90 and there will also be 150 let go in Paris, according to a rumor noted in Silicon Alley Insider. It also links to a story in the German Werben & Verkaufen that says it’s cutting its staff by almost two-thirds, to 70 employees. AOL currently employs 300 people in the UK, including AOL UK and AOL Europe staff, and before the layoffs had 170 in Germany according to W&V (AOL will not confirm how many employees there are in each respective market outside the UK).

The W&V article also points out that AOL is planning to consolidate most of its European operation in the UK in the future, possibly following the model set out in the US by moving the HQ to New York to follow big advertising. This could partly explain the large numbers of staff going in other European countries. The reductions in any case are seeing an almost inverse trend in AOL’s portal business: AOL earlier this month said it would launch 14 new portals in the next year-and-a-half.

AOL UK today reiterated to paidContent:UK what it has been saying already without confirming or denying any numbers related to headcount reductions: “We sold our (UK) access business to Carphone Warehouse last year and are no longer an internet service provider. We are going through a transition period. We are working out the right resizing of the business and working out how to avoid duplication and make things run more efficiently.”

UK portal: Meanwhile, AOL today switched on the UK version of the new-look content portals it has been rolling out in Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Italy and Spain. AOL UK MD Michael Steckler: “We have a strong global identity and this is part of our process of harmonising our global consumer experience.”

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