Thread: Tech Layoffs: AOL, Sprint, Electronic Arts

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Tech Layoffs: AOL, Sprint, Electronic Arts

Published November 10, 2009 at 2:19 PM

Add AOL LLC to the growing list of big technology companies laying off employees in November. Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced job cuts on Monday, following last week's layoffs from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ:RNWK).

AOL is laying off 100 of its 6,000 workers Tuesday, according to tech blogs Valleywag and BoomTown. But that's just for starters as job cuts of 1,000 or more are expected after Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) spins off the unit next month. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is apparently considering soliciting voluntary departures with buyouts, a suggestion made during the listening tour he conducted of the company in his first 100 days, according to BoomTown's Kara Swisher.

Sprint is cutting between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs, about 6% of its 42,000 employees, the mobile-phone carrier announced on Monday, after reporting a third-quarter loss of $478 million. The latest layoffs come on top of 8,000 eliminated positions announced in January and the transfer of 6,000 workers to Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson in an outsourcing move. All together, Sprint has cut its global workforce by roughly 16,500 this year. Separately, Sprint agreed on Monday to put $1 billion into Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ:CLWR), along with $500 million coming from joint venture partners Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC) and Bright House Networks LLC.

Electronic Arts, the world's second-largest video game maker, is eliminating about 1,500 jobs, a whopping 17% of its workforce, the company said after announcing its 11th straight quarterly loss. Also on Monday, EA said it was buying social network gaming startup Playfish for up to $400 million in cash and equity in one of the larger buys of a venture capital-backed startup this year. (Subscribers to The Deal Pipeline can read more about the acquisition here.)

The Seattle area in particular was hit hard last week when RealNetworks laid off about 70 people, or 4% of its 1,700 employees, and Microsoft eliminated 800 positions last week, as part of the 5,000 job cuts the software giant announced in January. Respected startup guru Don Dodge was among Microsoft's latest casualties. - Mary Kathleen Flynn

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