The economics headlines can sound awfully abstract, until people start losing their jobs. We’re seeing a lot more talented tech and biotech workers heading to the unemployment lines, and frankly, with the dwindling cash reserves at many companies, we expect to see more to come.
Rather than talk about the latest half-percentage point increase in unemployment rates, we’ve decided to tally up the total job losses at tech companies located in Seattle. Our initial analysis, which dates back to June 2008, shows this region’s companies have shed 920 workers. The most prominent example of the global downturn hitting home came last month, when pharmaceutical giant Merck axed 7,200 jobs worldwide, and decided to close down its Rosetta Inpharmatics operation in Seattle with 300 workers. Some of those folks will land on their feet—about 100 are estimated to be offered transfers to Boston—but it’s a painful setback for the Northwest.
Below you’ll find our Seattle Layoff Litany, where we are following layoffs in both technology and life sciences firms (we’ve also done a layoff tally for our other cities of San Diego and Boston, and you can find an overview to all our layoff trackers here).
The most recent layoffs are listed first. Today’s total of 920 layoffs is likely to grow, so scroll down to the bottom of the spreadsheet for the running total. One note: To explore the “More Info” links in the table below, please right-click or command-click on the links, then select “Open Link in New Tab” or “Open Link in New Window.” Due to a quirk in Google Spreadsheets, clicking on these links directly will cause a new Web page to open inside the spreadsheet window.
If you have corrections or additions to the list, please let us know by writing [email protected].
