A tale of Washington state’s economic distress

When rumors of layoffs first hit Microsoft’s http://www.microsoft.com campus in the fall of 2008, Rod Learmonth shrugged them off.

There were no signs of trouble from the software giant, even as the nation’s economy began to nose-dive. The company took pride in never having mass layoffs in its 34 years, it had a cash cushion and Learmonth, a full-time program manager for online services, thought it would weather the storm.

We heard "the rumors then and nothing happened, and nothing was mentioned for months," 41-year-old said.

The rumors came again in January. This time, Learmonth lost his job as the recession engulfing the nation began in earnest in Washington state.

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/08/a_tale_of_washingtons_economic.html