AOL headquarters out in the hinterlands of Northern Virginia (Dulles) announced their first round of layoffs this afternoon. The Post reports that the company cut close to 750 jobs today, over half of them from the Dulles location.

The mood at AOL HQ though, seems to be akin to that of the last day of school. Our inside source at AOL reports:

It’s craziness here though: people are walking around crying and hugging, packing up desks, avoiding the security guards placed in corridors to prevent theft. (None of this “oh, that filing cabinet’s always been locked!” nudge nudge wink wink, you know who you are…) There are stacks of folding boxes at every row for those who need them for packing away their personal items. I went for a wander in the Studio … and was dismayed to find that many experienced and talented people for whom I have a great deal of respect are out, probably for no more reason than the size of their paychecks. The upshot is that the package was good; in fact if they had made open offers to people, I imagine they would have got the numbers they needed voluntarily.

It’s no secret that the company is losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers to other cheaper ISPs. Perhaps if AOL weren’t spending millions on what some think are crappy commercials, they might have been able to save a few of those jobs.