LAYOFF TALK SPURS AOLTW
STOCK SLIDE

While a spokesman for AOL Time Warner declined to comment, Wall Street analysts and some employees said they expected layoffs to begin this week, reports the New York Times.

The cuts would be the second major round of layoffs this year at the company, after cutting about 2,400 jobs in January.

According to the Times, CIBC World Markets analyst John Corcoran, who met with AOLTW CFO J. Michael Kelly on Friday (8/10), said that the company was looking to cut costs in its cable and music divisions. Corcoran said he had no specific knowledge of layoffs and maintained a strong buy on the stock.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which quoted the Washington Post (who told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on…), AOLTW is prepping to lay off as many as 1,000 employees in its online division, according to sources familiar with the situation. While there has been no word on just when the ax might be falling at AOLTW—perhaps this week or next—the cutbacks would represent nearly 7% of the 16,000-employee workforce of America Online, affecting slightly more than 1% of AOL Time Warner's 90,000 employees worldwide.

The Post reported that a source in the recruiting industry said the cuts could affect AOL's brand-marketing employees in Dulles, VA, as well as its staff at Netscape Communications. Source also said the layoffs may be combined with an early-buyout program, and that program just might include snacks and juice boxes.

After reporting lower-than-expected revenue growth and hinting the company might not meet its year-end figures last month, AOL Chairman/CEO Gerald Levin said he was "making cost management a permanent way of life." At that time, Levin didn't exclude the possibility of future layoffs.

AOL has declined to comment.

There is a little good news this morning, however. Stocks, in general, are set to open higher as investors welcome the latest economic data that shows better-than-expected retail sales for July. That news comes from economists, so you know it’s sound.

And if that won’t cheer up AOLTW investors—as they watch their stock open at $42.99, down from a 52-week high of $62.27—they should remember that there’s always porn. Sweet, sweet porn.