Looks like Microsoft isn't waiting for those Yahoo engineers to come aboard to bulk up its Internet search unit. Greg Lamm, who writes the "Who's Hiring" column in the Puget Sound Business Journal, points out that Microsoft's careers site is listing about 80 job openings related at least in part to its Bing search engine, many of them posted within the past few weeks.

Most of the jobs are in the Seattle area, although some would be based in Mountain View, Calif. Most of the openings are software engineers, but the company is also looking for finance manager, system engineers and even a couple lawyers -- although the legal jobs encompass broad responsibilities for Windows, Office, Zune, Xbox and other Microsoft products.

The mini hiring spree for the search engine isn't a complete surprise, given that Microsoft said it would continue hiring in areas of strategic importance even as it shed thousands of jobs earlier this year. Separately, Microsoft's Yahoo partnership, if approved by regulators, would require Microsoft to hire "not less than 400 Yahoo employees, according to details of the agreement filed with the SEC.

Among Microsoft product groups, Bing isn't alone in its hiring. Greg notes in the current issue of the PSBJ that Microsoft's Project Natal is listing 18 job openings.