AOL’s nationwide network on more than 900 Patch.com hyperlocal community sites trimmed more than 350 employees on Friday, according to reports.
The layoffs are part of the internet service and content provider’s plan to stop the financial loses incurred by the Patch network. Patch operates 8 websites in Bucks County and more than 50 throughout the region.
Advertisements
According to InvestorPlace, the company plans to shutter 150 sites and either close or spin off another 150. The cuts are in an effort to try to make Patch profitable after more than 5 years of losses. Various media reports indicate that AOL has lost more than $300 million on the websites.
It was unclear as of Monday afternoon whether the Levittown Patch site would be shuttered. The site has changed editors several times since last summer. It is also not clear whether any Bucks County editors will be losing their jobs.
Local Patch sites have seen a decrease in freelance and full-time editors over the past few years since launching locally in late 2010.
Advertisements
A source told media blogger Jim Romensko that the layoffs have “left many Patch regions without its strongest editors.”
The Patch network rapidly expanded and was touted for hiring such a large amount of journalist. The company turned away from the heavy amount of local news content and slowly turned toward posts from the community that were mixed in with content produced by professional journalists.
Advertisements
In May, Patch got rid of about 40 staff, many in the regional management structure.
Patch was founded in New England by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong in 2007 and sold to AOL in 2009.
Disclosure: LevittownNow.com Publishers and Editors Jeff Bohen and Tom Sofield were both previously employed by the Patch and AOL/Huffington Post Media Group. Bohen covered local news in a freelance capacity for several Patch sites starting in 2011. Sofield worked as a freelancer reporter and contract editor later, running the Newtown and Levittown Patches for a period of time.
