A Seattle layoff list |
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A Seattle layoff list
I am slated to talk about layoffs in the tech sector at 10:35 a.m. today on KUOW 94.9, so tune in if you want to hear some more depressing news. Actually, as I plan to note today, this economic meltdown is quite different than the dot com bust which led to more than 20,000 layoffs in Washington's tech sector from 2001 to 2004.
This time, the problems started with shenanigans on Wall Street rather than in the halls of overconfident Internet companies in Seattle and Silicon Valley. Lessons have been learned. Internet companies -- and the venture capitalists that back them -- have embraced a lean approach to business in most cases.
That's not to say the tech sector is immune. In fact, the deep problems in the overall economy could have a much bigger impact this time. Layoffs have already become commonplace in the startup ranks, while Microsoft and Google have slowed their aggressive hiring plans.
As my colleague Todd Bishop pointed out yesterday, Microsoft has only recently begun to slow its hiring. Last month, it hired just 380 employees, which puts it on a hiring pace of less than 1,000 workers for the current quarter. That compares to 3,000 and 4,300 employees hired during the previous two quarters, respectively.
Startups companies in the Seattle area also are putting on the brakes, looking at ways to extend their cash positions in order to survive until better times arrive. We've tracked just over 600 layoffs at tech companies in the state in the past two months. (This includes about 300 cuts that are expected at Merck's unit in Seattle.)
"(Software) is slowing, but I still think it is the workhorse that has really helped Washington this past year," Mary Ayala, chief economist with the state's Employment Security Department, told TechFlash last month. Will it continue to be the workhorse in 2009?
Here are the cuts we have tracked so far. Let us know if we are missing any:
Targeted Genetics: 7
Entellium: 114
Microsoft/Fast: 17
Data i/o: Undisclosed
Car Domain: 16
PayScale: Undisclosed
Jobster: 15
Sun: Undisclosed locally
AdReady: Undisclosed
Ramp Group: 5
Merck: 300
Zillow.com: 40
WildTangent: 20
Daptiv: 21
Mercent: 6
Redfin: 20
ClayValet: 2
Faves.com: 3
THQ: Undisclosed
Intrepid: 10
Avelle: Undisclosed
Yapta: 4
Digital Railroad: Undisclosed
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