AOL has refused to say whether the UK will have to make any job cuts following yesterday's announcement in the US that around 1,000 jobs will be axed by the high-profile Internet company. A spokeswoman for AOL UK declined to comment on how yesterday's decision would affect the UK, insisting that all enquiries should instead be directed to AOL's head office in the US. No one was available for comment when this story went to press. Yesterday the company confirmed that between 350 and 500 jobs would be lost at Netscape -- recently acquired by AOL -- and a similar number would be cut across AOL's other operations. The cuts will take place later this year and will reduce the company's current workforce of 12,000 by around eight per cent. Despite the news -- which had been widely flagged -- bosses at AOL tried to smooth over news of the redundancies instead focusing on the more positive aspects of the merger. "We are especially excited about adding Netscape's talented people -- highly regarded in Silicon Valley and elsewhere -- to our team," said Steve Case, chairman and CEO in a statement issued to journalists. Does this mean the 500 or so Netscape employees getting the boot are talentless? ®