AOL to Cut Up to 900 Jobs as It Integrates Huffington Post

(Bloomberg) -- AOL Inc., the Internet company that agreed to buy the Huffington Post last month, said it will eliminate as many as 900 jobs as the company integrates the news website and restructures to try to return to revenue growth.

The company will cut as many as 700 jobs in India and 200 in the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong wrote in a memo to employees today. In India, 300 of the affected employees will move to outsourcing partners and continue to do work for AOL, he said.

“The changes for me today are very personal,” said Armstrong at the Bloomberg Media Summit in New York. “AOL employees deserve a tremendous amount of credit because I don’t think it’s easy to go from managing decline to managing growth.”

Armstrong said he would discuss the job cuts with employees later today.

“Our strategy remains clear: create high quality content experiences for consumers, at scale,” Armstrong wrote in the memo. “Today, we are announcing an organizational structure that will significantly improve AOL’s ability to focus on growth.”

The company had 5,860 employees at the end of last year, according to regulatory filings. If the company sheds 900 jobs, that would be 15 percent of the total.

Declining Revenue

AOL, whose sales have declined for four straight quarters, agreed to buy the Huffington Post for $315 million, aiming to increase online content to help boost advertising revenue. In India, the company is outsourcing back-office work to cut costs and focus on increasing consumer product sales.

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post, joined AOL as president and editor-in-chief of a newly formed media group, which includes other AOL content. Her website will serve as the model for other journalism efforts, Armstrong said in the memo.

“AOL will invest more heavily in our in-house editorial team and transition away from a reliance on freelance journalists,” he said. “Journalists are the heart and soul of a media company.”

Armstrong said he recently made a personal purchase of $10 million in AOL stock. In May, the former Google executive, who became AOL’s CEO in 2009, bought $11.1 million worth of stock.

Borders files for bankruptcy protection, will lay off 6,000

The No. 2 U.S. bookseller, which operates namesake superstores as well as the smaller Waldenbooks chain, has contended with double-digit comparable sales declines for two years.

Here are some key dates in Borders' history:

1971:
Tom and Louis Border found Borders Book Shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1992:
Kmart buys Borders, then a Michigan-based chain of 21 book superstores in the Midwest and Northeast. In 1984, KMart buys Waldenbooks.

1995:
Kmart spins off Borders-Walden Group in an IPO and changes its name to Borders Group.

1997:
Announces plans for an international superstore chain that would have 1,000 locations. At that point, it had 203 stores.

1998:
Launches Borders Online, but analysts fault it for being late to embrace e-commerce.

1999:
April: Company buys toy retailer All Wound Up, a deal that harms its liquidity. The plan foretells Borders' intention to expand its toys and games selection in late 2010 to diversify its offerings.

2000:
March: Hires Merrill Lynch & Co to review options, including a recapitalization, leveraged buyout or combination with another company.

2001:
April: Announces a deal with Amazon.com Inc to relaunch Borders' money-losing e-commerce site and feature Amazon.com's books and music offerings.

2006:

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square takes 11 percent stake in Borders, saying its shares are undervalued and could rise to $36 from $23.92. Ackman says fears of the threat from online retailer Amazon.com are "exaggerated."

2008:
March: Says it might put itself up for sale, but never finds a buyer. It also gets $42.5 million loan from Ackman's firm and says it would have faced imminent liquidity problems without it.

May: Barnes & Noble puts together a team to look at a merger with Borders. Separately, Borders launched its own web site.

2009:

April: Says it expects only 50-60 of its Waldenbooks stores to survive in the long term. It had 564 in 2006.

2010:

Jan 28: Announces cuts of 10 percent of corporate jobs.

March 31: Repays $42.5 million loan to Pershing Square, gets more credit and posts a profit on cost cuts. Shares jump.

July 7: Launches e-book store, eight months after Barnes & Noble.

December 6: Ackman offers to finance a merger with larger rival Barnes & Noble Inc..

2011
January 27: Borders says it gets conditional refinancing commitment from GE Capital and warns it may seek an "in court restructuring," meaning a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

January 30: Borders says it is delaying payment to vendors and landlords, among other creditors.

February 4: Borders gets warning from New York Stock Exchange about low share price, says it could be delisted.

February 16: Borders files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection in Manhattan.

Illinois businesses cutting more than 650 employees

(Crain’s)—Seven Illinois companies notified the state of plans to cut a total of more than 650 jobs by the end of March, an increase from layoffs announced a month earlier.

Gray Interplant Systems Inc. accounts for the most losses. The Peoria-based warehousing and storage company will cut 167 employees, according to a monthly Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act report released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The state law, known as WARN, requires firms with at least 75 employees to give 60 days’ notice of closings or large layoffs.

Only one of the seven companies, Gold Standard Baking Inc., is based in Chicago. A manufacturer of fresh and frozen baked goods that was acquired by Chicago’s Arbor Investments in 2008, Gold Standard will let 73 workers go when the company shuts down permanently in March. Calls to the bakery and to Arbor Investments were not immediately returned.

Two Kmart stores, in Franklin Park and Downstate Washington, are closing and will shed 163 jobs collectively; Kmart is a unit of Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. Itasca-based C. D. Listening Bar Inc., a durable goods wholesaler that does business as DeepDiscount.com, will lay off 67 employees, and Doumak, a Bensenville chocolate confectionery, will cut 60 people temporarily as it installs new equipment.

Other employers reporting layoffs are AGI North America LLC, a Downstate Jacksonville-based manufacturer of paperboard boxes that is laying off 70 employees, and Houston-based Dynegy Inc., which is dismissing 53 workers at its Vermillion power plant in Downstate Oakwood.

In its previous report, the state said 495 employees would lose their jobs at four businesses by the end of February.

KPMG to hire 250,000 employees over the next five years

KPMG recently announced its plan to hire 250,000 employees over the next five years. The firm is particularly interested in recruiting mid-level talent for the advisory business

Recruiters in KPMG’s advisory unit recently took the time to answer some questions for Vault readers regarding the firm’s plans to hire a quarter of a million new employees in five years. Specifically, the recruiters talked about what kinds of consultants they’re actively seeking, in terms of experience, expertise and overall ability.

Q: KPMG recently announced its intentions to hire roughly 250,000 new employees in the next five years. Will the firm's advisory division also see big headcount increases in that timeframe?

A: Yes, the Advisory business is one of the key growth areas for KPMG in the US and globally, and therefore in order to meet our growth expectations, we do expect to significantly increase headcount in Advisory over the next five years. In the U.S. alone, Advisory is hiring more than 100 people per month.

Q: In terms of experience, what type of candidate will see the most attention from advisory recruiters? Entry-level? Mid-level? Manager-level?

A: Currently, KPMG Advisory is actively recruiting at all levels, but our greatest need is for mid-level talent. However, our needs tend to change depending upon client needs, so all levels are encouraged to apply.

Q: What particular skills do KPMG's advisory recruiters value? Is the division looking for quant-jocks, versatile strategists, or those with more job-specific skill sets?

A: KPMG Advisory is hiring across our three service groups – Transactions & Restructuring, Performance & Technology, and Risk & Compliance. Within those groups, we have a wide array of needs that require job-specific skill sets, such as in technology, risk management and transaction services, and are also looking for versatile strategists and project managers. We also have some positions that require industry-specific experience, with high demand right now in Financial Services, Health Care, Pharmaceutical, and Energy.

However, beyond job-specific skill sets and/or industry experience, the most important skill that we are looking for is excellent consultative abilities. Talented individuals that can meet with clients, recognize and articulate high value solutions, and then implement those solutions are critical to our success.

Q: What kind of working experience awaits newly-hired KPMG consultants?

A: KPMG offers an award-winning work environment, the opportunity to work with leading companies on challenging projects, outstanding career development programs, global work opportunities, and the chance to work with some of the best and brightest people around the world.