In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen further bloodletting in terms of area tech-company layoffs and closures. It really is brutal out there. Here is a quick recap:
—Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XIDE]]), a maker of batteries and energy storage devices in Alpharetta, GA, closed its facility in Sumner, WA, and laid off 43 workers earlier this week. The staff cuts were effective immediately.
—Bellevue, WA-based travel site Expedia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXPE]]) laid off an undisclosed number of workers about two weeks ago. The latest staff cuts came on the heels of another layoff (numbers also not disclosed) at the company in February.
—Seattle-based Impinj, the maker of novel radio frequency identification technologies, laid off 23 workers (or about 18 percent of its staff of 130) two weeks ago. Xconomy profiled the company’s strategy in February.
—Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JAVA]]), the software and networking giant, laid off 24 employees in Bellevue, WA, earlier this week. The staff cuts are effective May 30.
—Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) is laying off two employees at its Seattle facility near the International District, effective June 30, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.
—Microsoft is also shutting down MSN Encarta, its online encyclopedia site, as of October 31, 2009. The move is viewed as a response to the changing nature of reference materials and information access, thanks to competing sites like Wikipedia.
—Seattle-based Trusera, the online community healthcare startup founded by ex-Amazon exec Keith Schorsch, said it may close at the end of April unless it can raise more funding in a hurry. Trusera began in early 2007, raised $2 million in angel funding that summer, and rolled out its public site in June 2008.
