Google Lays Off Contractors amid Recession

The search and advertising giant has declined to say exactly how many contractors were cut and a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from mid-December, which surfaced Wednesday, did not shed further light on the matter.

According to the filing, Google currently employs about 4,300 interns, temporary workers and contractors.

One thing is clear: Google's cuts have been swift and startling. It has closed some of its famously free cafeterias, canceled a big company ski trip and scaled back traditional holiday gifts. Instead of giving employees $1,000 for holiday shopping, Google gave out mobile devices with a new Google-developed operating system and urged employees to eat the company's "dog food" — in other words, use its products.

So instead of numbers, we're left with anecdotal reports, like the one Gawker published from a laid-off Google contractor who used to work in on-site tech support:

I got laid off from Google’s internal helpdesk a few months back; now I’m watching my google talk list drop one by one while a colleague there gives a play by play. When I was there there were 24 people, three of us were axed when I left, two more people have quit in the interim but weren’t replaced in headcount.

Whatever the numbers, Valleywag tipsters have consistently told us of heavy cuts. Deep Fried, a source within Google's kitchens, told us last fall of the unprecedented closure of one of Google's free-food emporiums, a cornerstone of Google's culture of employee perks.