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Google’s Kirkland Site to Shrink, Microsoft Layoffs May Be Looming

Luke Timmerman 12/22/08

Since my tech-savvy colleague Greg is off today, I’m scanning the web for the local tech news. Be warned, this isn’t good for holiday cheer. Here goes:

—Google is giving up some of its office space at its new campus in Kirkland, according to this report by Brier Dudley in The Seattle Times. The Internet search king is now trying to sublease parts of two of its three buildings in Kirkland, or about 78,000 square feet of space in a 195,000 square foot development, Dudley says. Google still plans to move its employees into a “portion” of the campus in 2009, a spokesman said.

This is another sign, along with its sinking stock price, that Google’s honeymoon is over, Dudley says. He called the Google building on Sixth Street in Kirkland “a half-empty monument to the company’s golden era and hubris.”

—Microsoft has so far avoided making any big staff cuts during the recession, but that could be coming to an end, according to the blog “Mini Microsoft.” The blog predicts that Jan. 15 will be the day of reckoning, one week before the company announces quarterly results. VentureBeat surmises this could mean the bottom 10 percent of performers at the Redmond software giant could get axed, or about 5,000 to 10,000 employees.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotechnology Editor for Xconomy. You can e-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com, call 206-624-2374, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ldtimmerman.

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Krassen Dimitrov
12/23/08 12:04 am

Luke Timmerman:

I have published an article on my blog that mentions you in a somewhat unfavourable light. I believe the criticism is completely justified, however, if you have substantive disagreements, and specifically if you can cite articles in which you discuss the poor performance of venture funds, do not hesitate to contact me and I will correct it.

http://m2e-freelunch.blogspot.com/2008/12/has-world-gone-madoff.html

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