• Business Insider et al, Monday, January 11, 2010 1:22 PM

Sending a shiver up the industry's collective spine, AOL on Monday began a round of layoffs that, by week's end, is expected to have claimed roughly a third of the company's workforce. About 1,400 employees will likely lose their jobs, the majority of whom will receive pink slips on Wednesday, according to The Business Insider. "We're just hoping AOL cuts deep enough now so it won't have do this again," it writes.

Exceeding the most aggressive estimates, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told employees in November that he was looking for "up to 2,500 volunteers" to quit or commit to early retirement.

The voluntary layoff program was slated to begin on December 4 -- a few days before the company officially spun off from Time Warner.

"Interestingly, rank and filers are being offered a weaker deal than their recent colleagues over at Time Inc." Valleywag noted at the time. AOL was reportedly offering to pay them three months severance, whereas Time Inc.-ers got that plus two weeks for every year of service.

In a statement, AOL on Monday said it had approximately 1,100 employees opt to join the "Voluntary Separation Program."

"AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said Monday that only 1,100 volunteered to leave," the Associated Press reported Monday. "That means it would need to shed up to 1,200 positions to reach its previously announced reduction target of up to 2,300, or about a third of its work force."

Last October, news broke that AOL had hired consultants Alix Partners to orchestrate the company's broader layoffs. A knowledgeable source told The Wall Street Journal's Business Insider blog that Alix was helping AOL with a "top to bottom" look at the company in terms of "process efficiencies, cost structure, and strategy."

Continued the AOL statement released Monday: "Since April, we have been moving through a process that started with strategy, then focused on structure, and has most recently been centered on aligning our costs with the company's strategy and structure ... As a part of this process, we've looked at every aspect of this business."

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