Mega-ISP Update: Layoffs At AOL, Voices At MSN

rfc1394 writes: "There are two articles, the first article, in today's Washington Post, mentioned that AOL, having successfully digested Time Warner, is producing results of that digestion by additionally extruding almost 1,000 people in layoffs due to an anemic advertising market and a need to meet projected revenue goals of about $40 billion. A separate Post article mentions how Microsoft's online service MSN is having a woman named Shelley Reynolds create a series of spoken identifiers for its online service similar to AOL's famous 'You've got mail!' and identifies El Edwards as the man who is the voice behind the phrase. The second article also tells about the effect of sound on people with respect to technology, and the payments involved (Edwards reportedly got about $100; Reynolds will receive something under six figures.)"

Comments

a different interpretation

[mckwant]

This assumes, of course, that all the stockholders (in aggregate) care about is the results in the current quarter.

The dotbomb's stock prices were based largely upon speculation. You can't tell me that, a dotcom with P/E ratios in the thousands had stock prices based on the latest quarter's earnings. In these cases, during the "boom," shareholders (again in aggregate) were willing to forego current income in exchange for potential future market dominance.

It's a double-edged sword. If you have a killer plan, but can't get anything going in the near term, why should I invest my money with you? Similarly, if you've got your current market covered, but have no plans for growth in the future, why should anyone new invest?

In the latter case, what happens when your current market disappears (and it will)? You've got no company, and my stock is worth zilch.

A viable company has to have both a current value proposition, and a speculative function operating simultaneously, and the market will reward both.

El Edwards

[acm]

"Who could have foreseen something like this happening," said Elwood Edwards. "Years ago my wife worked at AOL and asked me to record the greetings for the company. Now, as I think about the millions of AOL members who consider me as the 'mailman' of cyberspace, I'm amazed. I'm pleased that I've had a small part in making the computer world smaller and more personable."

Edwards has recently started his own business doing voice-overs for commercial and business broadcasts, radio and television. More information about Elwood Edwards and his voice-over services can be found at his Website:

http://members.aol.com/voicepro.

Re:Layoffs = increasing revenue?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Actually, AOL does lose a lot of users. They have to constantly replace them with new users (here, have a free AOL CD!) Then, as soon as the new users become disgusted with the service and leave, the next wave of dangerously clueless users comes in.

Re:Layoffs = increasing revenue?

[Pinchy]

Less employees means less payroll and benefits to pay out, which means more cash you get to keep for yourself. So how do you make up for the lost manhours:

• Make your remaining employees work harder to pick up the slack. You may have to pay a little more in overtime, but it is cheaper than paying a full salary and benefits.
• Find cheaper labor to do the same job. There are a couple of options here. Some states sell their prisoners on the free market (a lot of airlines use this route). States with tough welfare laws often require people on the dole to work at minimum wage jobs or lose all their benefits. Or you could try another country, preferably one with a represive government and lots of hungry people (I think Phil Knight has a list of them).
• Don't replace the lost manhours, just cut back on the quality of service. Most people who use AOL aren't going to leave no matter how bad it gets.

priorities?

[die_rollerblader]

Does it seem odd to anyone else that this article about the new voice for MSN is about three times longer than the one about the DMCA and Dimitri from the other day?

I guess we can see where the press' priorities are.

Must be inflation

[sg3000]

I remember when Microsoft used to pay college professors only $200 to talk about them.

managers profit, workers screwed

[Anonymous Coward]

While the CEO's have gotten rich at these companies, the workers, after having to work 60-hour weeks, are now being laid off now that they're unneeded. It was the managers and investors greed that caused the economic collapse to begin with.

Here is a good link speaking about this:

Who should pay?