AOL to show door to over 1,000 staffers this week

NEW YORK, USA: Apparently realizing that its 'voluntary separation program' announced in November had not met with the targeted headcount reduction numbers, AOL is reportedly planning to cut 1000 more jobs this week.

Most of the layoffs will take place on Wednesday, a Washington Post report said.

The company's earlier plan of reduction of one-third (or 2500) of its employees through a volunteer program had seen only 1000 volunteers, apparently precipitating the need for it to take the ax on its own.

The move comes as AOL focuses on becoming a smaller and more agile player in the Web content publishing space, including news blogs.

The company expects to save some $300 million in annual costs through its headcount reduction plans. However, the restructuring charges were estimated to be around $200 million.

In December, Time Warner Inc had spun off AOL, nine tumultuous years after one of the most disastrous corporate mergers in history.