Silicon Valley: America Online is said to be planning to hire software engineers in Bangalore, a decision that marks the first time the Internet giant has turned to India to help build its flagship Internet software, a report said today (Dec 24, 2003).

According CNET.news.com website, AOL's plans slipped out on its Web site in a Dec 10 job posting seeking a global programme manager to "coordinate software development teams" in the United States, Dublin, Ireland, and Bangalore.

The 'Time Warner' unit already has a presence in Bangalore and its plans are in line with those of fellow Net biggies Yahoo and Google, adding to fear among US technology workers that their jobs will be shipped abroad, it said.

The posting bothered some people because it appeared at the same time AOL announced it was laying off hundreds of software engineers at its Netscape Communications unit in Mountain View, California, as well as other West Coast offices.