I noticed this posting over at GigaOM about additional personnel cuts at EarthLink (there is a side commentary about the fact that NO ONE posted a comment to this story but I digress). I pinged some folks (and have been pinged by some folks) that I know there (disclosure: I consulted for EarthLink for six months in 2006). It does seem as if there are some additional cuts coming at the end of this month. These may be in line with the previously announced cuts but I’m not sure.
With all of these EarthLinkers on the street, you have to wonder where they’ll land. I’d say it’s a perfect time for them to form teams and start some new companies. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of this happening yet.
For you recently ex-EarthLinkers, maybe you can get back some of those jobs that were outsourced and are now coming back to Atlanta.
P.S. The EarthLink web site still blows. I can’t believe they still list all their press releases (back to 1995) on one freakin’ page (132K of HTML). I complained about that when I was there last year. Glad to see no one did anything about it.
I can definitively say that some of the previously announced cuts are just now taking effect. I’ve run into several developers who are just now coming free, but have known they were on their way out for months.
Many of the long-time Earthlinkers seem to have been paid quite well, so it will be interesting to see whether they’ll put some savings into new ventures or seek similar comfort at other large firms.
Thanks for the info Rob. I find it heartening that we’ve been seeing some of these folks at events like BarCamp and Startup Weekend. But I’m not sure if a new venture is the path these people are going to take or if these events are little more than networking. I guess time will tell.