AOL, the Internet service provider owned by media giant Time Warner, is cutting 1,300 jobs, or 7 percent of its total global workforce, in Florida, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Virginia, as well as shuttering a call center in Jacksonville, Fla., the Associated Press reports via the Chicago Sun-Times.The news of the layoffs came on Tuesday, and they represent the first significant workforce reduction at AOL since 700 employees were dropped last fall, according to the AP.Nicholas Graham, an AOL spokesman, told the AP the cuts are a result of more Web-savvy customers and better, easily accessible Internet tools that those customers can use to perform more functions on their own, the AP reports.“The Internet world of 2006 is very different from the world of 1996 when AOL first established these member centers,” Graham told the AP. “Today, AOL members are more savvy and sophisticated online. They are very different members today than they were in 1996.” In the mid-1990s, AOL drew mostly beginner Web users because of its simple interface and high visibility in the mainstream market, but as Internet surfers became more educated about the Web, they began to desire more sophisticated tools and services. AOL responded by, among others things, bolstering its online help desk function so that users could perform their own Web troubleshooting. Today, some 8 million customers look up information every month, according to the AP, and only 5.5 million users seek live help services from AOL operators.“They’re able to accomplish with a couple of clicks what used to take them a phone call or two or three to accomplish,” Graham said, according to the AP. AOL’s call volume has been cut in half since 2004, Graham told the AP.The company’s Jacksonville, Fla., call center was closed on Tuesday and 780 employees lost their jobs, according to the AP. Three hundred more staffers will be laid off in Tucson, Ariz. Another 125 in Ogden, Utah, will be cut along with additional smaller-scale layoffs in Albuquerque, N.M., and Dulles, Va., the AP reports. The Ogden cuts were made on Tuesday, and Tucson’s will be effective on June 30, according to the AP.The news comes less than one week after AOL announced that it lost 835,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2006. For more, read AOL Says Goodbye to 835K Subscribers.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe