Citing anonymous sources, WebGuild says Google may be preparing to lay off thousands of workers. These sources have also claimed that "hundreds" of staff have already been released over the last few months. Indeed, the only reason why this has gone unnoticed is the fact that Google has classified these workers as "temporary operational expenses," allowing the company to eliminate their positions without public notification.
A report at CNET appears to confirm it, although it pins the reduction in head count on a plan to reduce the number of contractors and not in reaction to the recent economic troubles. The reduction is achieved through vendor management, as well as converting contractors to regular employees, according to co-founder Sergey Brin.
Google spokeswoman Jane Penner, while short on actual details, told CNET that, "We have 10,000, and we have had a plan in place for awhile to significantly reduce that number. This is something we've been thinking about for awhile--six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the (present economic) crisis."
Layoffs are only to be expected in a slowing economic climate, though Google--the poster child of the "do no evil" camp--certainly gets more attention than most.
To read more about this story:
- check out this article from the Network World
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