AOL – “Needs to stick to one plan”

Pros

The benefits are fairly generous and the salaries are pretty good for this area. And believe it or not, many of the people here (I work as a software developer) are actually very smart.

Cons

The constant re-orgs and yearly layoffs are very frustrating. It seems to occur like clockwork at least once every year, and sometimes twice. They contribute to a very negative work environment. When the rumors start flying, and depending on if your division is likely to be affected, employee morale basically plummets and it seems hardly any work gets done. Given that circumstance, it's hard to see employees do anything more than the minimum their job requires.

Advice to Senior Management

AOL could do better if it was free from the incompetence at Time Warner and given more visionary executive leadership. In order to compete against the big boys in this space, you don't need managers, you need visionaries. Make a plan and stick to it.