AOL Cuts Jobs as Focus Shifts to Data, Mobile and Video

Media giant AOL has announced it will be making around 500 employees redundant, as the firm shifts its focus to data, mobile and video.

In a memo to staff, CEO Tim Armstrong (pictured) said the restructure was part of the company's strategy to meet changes taking place in the industry. AOL, which is owned by Verizon Communications, will now comprise two divisions: Media (including Search and Communications) and Platforms, with its content properties such as the Huffington Post, Engadget and TechCrunch part of the former, and ad technology part of the latter. 'Mobile, video, and data are the key growth drivers of that strategy and the company will be putting resources into each of these areas', Armstrong confirmed.

In the past year, the firm has added more than 1,500 new people to the business as part of a digital ad deal with Microsoft and its acquisition of Millennial Media. AOL also acquired publisher analytics specialist AlephD, as part of its commitment to 'turn data into insights, using that intelligence to drive yield', and AlephD is now part of AOL's data management platform ONE. Armstrong says these moves have resulted in a number of areas requiring consolidation to improve operation, which will impact a small percentage (five per cent) of the global workforce.

The firm, whose parent is the process of buying Yahoo! for $4.6 billion, is online at www.aol.com .