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Beginning yesterday, AOL employees based at the company’s Virginia headquarters began receiving emails telling them their presence was required at an important meeting today.  Once they arrived, they were fired. The company is making good on its announcement in January that it would lay off 700 employees, blaming a weakening online advertising market.

“The deepening economic recession has affected every corner of the economy, including our own,” CEO Randy Falco wrote in a memo that was e-mailed to AOL employees in January. “Reducing our workforce is never easy, particularly in the current climate, but our goal in doing this is to provide our core businesses the resources they need to thrive.”

AOL plans to complete this latest round of layoffs by the end of March.  Being laid off is never easy, but the company is said to be offering employees a generous severance package.  Other tech companies such as Microsoft and Dell have also suffered layoffs in the past few weeks as the economic climate continues to cause concern.

Read [SiliconAlley Insider]