Can't really say how I feel about AOL these days though laying off 20% of it's workforce seems extreme. 

"..In the e-mail sent to U.S. employees on Monday, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco says that the layoffs are needed to keep the operations efficient as the company continues its realignment from a subscription-based ISP to an ad-supported Web company. And he promises "generous severance packages."

I was swamped at Emetrics Summit this week and really could not post much - in fact, much of what was going on at Emetrics, especially the announcements of new features of Google Analytics were very blogable, yet I didn't cover them…there's so much I can do and I choose to spend my time talking with individuals and groups, having meaningful conversations.

On the other hand, the news about the AOL layoff does suggest a comment - AOL is a big employer in New York City - with a large AOL Center located at Columbus Circle - I wonder how many of the employees being let go are in New York?

My take, and this is just me, is AOL is not becoming more relevant, as Randy Falco suggests, when he announced the layoff, but less….and that's why the layoff is actually happening (as far as I can see) because a 20% layoff is way more than any corporation usually lets go unless they are in trouble - usually 3% - 5% is considered a major layoff - 20% of a large corporation is more like a mass slaughter.

Will Wall Street like it - sure - Wall Street is all about money - as long at the stock goes up - they don't give a damn if half the company is let go.   But the question is …. how relevant is AOL anyway?  Not very.

Here's why - AOL was more important as a gateway to the internet - and as a news service - but those roles have been greatly diminished - as Falco clearly sees - not matter what they do - they can't really get back to the place they were at 10 years ago.

And the Silicon Alley Insider has 22 comments going back from last Monday,  when the announcement was made, showing how people feel about the layoff.

It's always tough - the have's feel they are impelled to layoff the have not's - even though, in large part, the reason why AOL failed has to do with management - in other words - it's basically Management's fault that AOL is losing marketshare and shrinking - but it's the workers who get shafted while the Executives, who created the failing strategy jump off with their golden parachutes - the perversity of our age.