AOL to lay off 5,000 workers

DULLES, Va., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit said Thursday it will lay off as many as 5,000 employees in the next six months, MarketWatch reported.

The layoffs among the business's worldwide staff are part of an effort to cut operating expenses by more than $1 billion by the end of next year. The moves come as AOL changes its business model to advertising-revenue and drops charges for e-mail and other services to broadband users.

AOL lost 3.1 million U.S. subscribers in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis, and subscription revenue fell 11 percent, Time Warner said.