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Just 2 days after the worst tragedy in US history, the AOLTW (AOL) brass issued pink slips to several CNNSI employees. A "very, very small" number of the net's 200 or so employees lost their jobs, network officials confirmed, terming the cuts "inevitable." On Wed, just 1 day after the terrorist attacks in NYC and DC, management herded all CNNSI employees into an Atlanta conference room and announcing that several of them would be let go Thurs. Employees in the meeting told us that they asked management why they chose this week-of all weeks-to announce the firings. The response: "We're all devastated. We don't think that it's going to go away in a day, a week or a month." Even though the timing caught employees off guard, the layoffs had been expected-restructuring plans (including layoffs) had been put in place several weeks ago. Some employees became expendable because CNN is reducing sports programming in its schedule, which could see the 11pm "Sports Tonight" show dropped. Laid-off employees will receive a severance package of 9 weeks, plus 4 weeks for each completed year served. Of course, the timing of the cuts gives the appearance that AOLTW is using this week's horrific tragedies as cover, allowing it to release bad news of its own without getting much attention. Don't think Ted would've operated this way....