AOL cuts benefits, blames Obamacare

ah yes, ( in that smithers voice from the Simpsons )

Just when I thought Obama could not be blamed for anything else....

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/06/news/economy/aol-obamacare/index.html?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_t3

Its true, AOL - HAHAHAHA!

Come on now, I know Obama takes heat, BUT AOL was so gone even before he ran

 

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:AOL&sa=X

Am I misreading that chart, or has AOL been climbing in value for the last three years, now at a 5 year high in value? Mainframes may not be the new hot thing but IBM is still with us, and I suspect the same will be true of AOL for quite some time to come. Besides, even if AOL's fiscal health were in question, its not exactly like AOL is the first company to throw people off their insurance because of the ACA. You have

• UPS
• Walgreens
• University of Virginia
• Delta Airlines
• Target
• HomeDepot
• Trader Joes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypi...ets-in-companies-cruelly-cut-health-benefits/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...bamacare-that-could-be-good-news-for-workers/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-your-boss-is-dumping-your-wife-2013-02-22


Of course that is only a partial list of the big companies and doesn't even take into account the many small companies that have done likewise. Sit tight. The employer mandate kicks in next year. That is when the bulk of the nearly 60 million people to lose their employer coverage because of the ACA (According to the Obama administrations own estimates) are set to lose them.

And hey, if you don't like companies telling you why they no longer provide coverage, perhaps you should read the recent CBO estimates that lay more than 2.3 million lost jobs at the feet of the ACA. Winning!

 

AOL reverses 401(k) cuts, CEO apologizes

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/08/technology/aol-armstrong-401k/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

That didn't take long.................

 

Funny, when the headline of the article (and your post) said he cut benefits, I assumed they were medical benefits. I have to admit, cutting a 401k match while your stock soars is just lame. Blaming ObamaCare is even worse.

 

agreed, the fact we are talking about AOL is funny too LOL

 

This particular CEO has a current and unfortunate habit of putting his foot in his mouth, and causing tremendous employee dissatisfaction. He has also been directly responsible for some very serious financial losses at AOL over the last few years. He founded a small hyper local media site called Patch, it was purchased by AOL, and dramatically expanded. It never made money and in fact lost millions. He then announced big cut backs on Patch staffing, and while doing so in a live broadcast to employees, got pissed off at a staff photographer taking pictures of him while doing so and fired the photographer while broadcasting.

Terrible PR. Terrible efforts to generate employee morale.

AOL has really struggled to reinvent itself. Its had a lot of miserable financial quarters and has just kept shrinking. Armstrong, the CEO keeps trying things. Some have worked and some have been miserable failures, such as Patch.

They just had their best financial quarter in YEARS. YEARS. In fact in 8 years. They had measurable growth in advertising sales. All in the industry know they have a long way to go. Its astonishing in terms of employee relations that Armstrong, the CEO would announce a plan to screw over employees even while the business had its best quarter in YEARS.
AOL made money, paid those benefits...and DID BETTER. .....and Armstrong wants to take money out of employees pockets, set up a mechanism that enables the company to jack employees around. He could keep them hired for 11.5 months and then fire them and get a BIG SAVINGS on not having to make a 401(k) contribution.

Therein lies a great example of how corporations have a skewed power relationship with employees.

And then Armstrong makes the claim that the change was caused either by obamacare and/or the fact that two employees, with the type of health care offered that helped attract the employees to the business in the first place....were the cause for the change. The wife of one of the accused couples wrote an interesting piece in Slate about this situation here: Armstrong basically sent a signal to employees. Stay healthy or you are fired.

After taking incredible PR slams, Armstrong reversed his decision. The existing 401(k) plan remains with contributions counting with each paycheck.

The entire story is a grotesque move by a CEO wherein its hard to believe him. Before you start making blame statements show us your financials.

 

As I just read someone else say: AOL is still around?

 

It is better PR the blaming a baby. Corporate bully slams "distressed babies". What next ? Puppies ? USA Today video

 

Is everyone loving their ObamaCare yet? The President just did a victory lap on your cancellation. Suck it up. He wipes his ass with your concerns.