AOL Inc., the struggling Internet company, plans to cut about a third of its workers if its planned spinoff from Time Warner Inc. goes through.

Alcoa Howmet is laying off 250 workers, or nearly a quarter of its work force, at its Hampton manufacturing plant.

Two Southside Virginia furniture manufacturing plants are laying off workers. Bassett Furniture Industries said it will close its fiberboard manufacturing plant in Henry County by the end of the year, ending 45 jobs. Bassett officials made the announcement Thursday. President and CEO Robert H. Spilman Jr. said the local demand for medium fiberboard has been depressed and no longer supports keeping the plant open. The plant began production in 1970.

Educational Credit Management Corp. plans to close its office in Chesterfield County and lay off all 60 employees, the nonprofit agency said yesterday. They will lose their jobs Dec. 1. Educational Credit Management has been insuring loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, as well as servicing other guarantors’ loans when a borrower files for bankruptcy, but the federal government now is taking over insuring student loans, spokeswoman Marianna O’Brien said.

About 200 temporary and wage workers are being let go to save $2.3 million. The Virginia State Police will absorb the brunt of the part-time cuts with a reduction of 104 non-sworn employees.

Those who survive the ax will be furloughed for a day and take a hit on their state-funded pension next year.

About 85 employees at Genworth Financial Inc.‘s corporate offices in Henrico County were told Tuesday that their positions are being eliminated. The insurance giant is shifting some of its back-office functions in its annuity business to Lynchburg as part of Genworth’s ongoing review of its operations, spokesman Al Orendorff said. About 40 of the jobs will be transferred to Lynchburg, where the company is expanding its call center operations. Those employees will have the option of moving.

Mohawk Industries plans to lay off 40 workers at its Waynesboro plant in response to lower demand for the company’s products.

No matter how you look at it, the forecast is pain. Spending in the current Virginia budget for fiscal 2010 will have to be slashed up to $1.5 billion if the most dire economic forecast for state revenue prevails.

Layoff notices that started going to about 600 Virginia Department of Transportation employees yesterday primarily affect those who do the work that has been hardest hit by the agency’s budget crunch: construction and planning. Faced with a $2.6 billion revenue shortfall, VDOT has cut about $2 billion in road building from its six-year plan, canceling or delaying 800 projects. The job cuts mostly affect full-time employees whose work is tied to those projects, such as surveying, plan inspection, environmental processing and right-of-way acquisition.

In an effort to cut costs and not duplicate efforts, the Greater Richmond Chamber has laid off its director of work-force development. One reason for the cut is the creation of the Capital Region Workforce Partnership, formed in October to combine work-force training programs in Richmond and nearby counties, a chamber official said yesterday.

Cessna Aircraft Co., the nation’s largest builder of corporate jets, has announced an additional 1,300 layoffs. The number means the company will have slashed its work force in half since the recession began.

Manchester Tank shut down its Dinwiddie County manufacturing facility Thursday and laid off 66 employees. The Franklin, Tenn.-based company cited a drop in demand and the poor economy as reasons. Cost-cutting through consolidation also played a part and Virginia lost out, the company said. Employees at a Manchester Tank facility in Quincy, Ill., will take on additional production duties to make up for the closure, said Mickie Coggin, communications director for McWane Inc., which owns Manchester Tank.

Reynolds Packaging Group has notified the state of job cuts at one of its Richmond-area plants. The company expects to lay off 158 employees at its plant at 2001 Reymet Road in August, according to a notice filed with the state’s Dislocated Worker Unit. The job cuts will be effective Aug. 1, according to the notice, which was dated May 29 but posted on a state Web site yesterday.

The slowdown in everything from construction to automobile sales and consumer spending has rippled across manufacturing jobs at one of the Richmond area’s largest employers.