KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
Have any leads or feedback for the KUOW Blog? Contact Dyer Oxley at dyer@kuow.org.
Stories
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Amazon layoffs reflect 'change in mindset for the company'
More than 18,000 Amazon employees will be out of a job by the time an ongoing round of layoffs is complete.
That's nearly double the amount that was anticipated when layoffs began in November. GeekWire's Todd Bishop expects "this is where [Amazon] is going to stop," though.
In other words, Bishop does not foresee additional layoffs at the company in the short term.
"At this point, with the 18,000 number, I think it would behoove Amazon to stop there," Bishop told KUOW's Angela King. "Obviously, things can change. It's a very dynamic economic environment. But you've seen the company go through this process over the past month or so, and I think we now have our hands around the full scope of these cutbacks."
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a blog post that the staff reductions were set off by the uncertain economy and the company's rapid hiring over the last several years.
Now, that hiring spree is being offset by this historic number of layoffs, the most in the company's history and the biggest number among major tech companies in the past year, Bishop says.
"Amazon has historically, maybe more than a decade ago, been a company that really prided itself on being focused and somewhat specific in its bets. Over the past decade, you've seen Amazon become a bit of a sprawling company, where they have initiatives all over the place," he says. "Part of what Amazon is doing through this process is simplifying."
Bishop says one of the company's core leadership principles is to simplify customer experience. Now, it appears to be applying that principle to the company overall.
"It's really a change in mindset for the company," he explains. "This is a company that, even through the pandemic, really was forced to grow at a breakneck speed. And here, you have a real shift. Leadership is saying, 'Wait a second. Let's take a step back and make sure that we're putting our bets on the right squares.'"
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Amazon CEO says company will lay off more than 18,000 workers
Amazon is laying off 18,000 employees, the tech giant said Wednesday, representing the single largest number of jobs cut at a technology company since the industry began aggressively downsizing last year.
In a blog post, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote that the staff reductions were set off by the uncertain economy and the company's rapid hiring over the last several years.
The cuts will primarily hit the company's corporate workforce and will not affect hourly warehouse workers. In November, Amazon had reportedly been planning to lay off around 10,000 employees but on Wednesday, Jassy pegged the number of jobs to be shed by the company to be higher than that, as he put it, "just over 18,000."
Jassy tried to strike an optimistic note in the Wednesday blog post announcing the massive staff reduction, writing: "Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so."
While 18,000 is a large number of jobs, it's just a little more than 1% of the 1.5 million workers Amazon employees in warehouses and corporate offices.
Last year, Amazon was the latest Big Tech company to watch growth slow down from its pandemic-era tear, just as inflation being at a 40-year high crimped sales.
News of Amazon's cuts came the same day business software giant Salesforce announced its own round of layoffs, eliminating 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 jobs.
Salesforce Co-CEO Mark Benioff attributed the scaling back to a now oft-repeated line in Silicon Valley: The pandemic's boom times made the company hire overzealously. And now that the there has been a pullback in corporate spending, the focus is on cutting costs.
"As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we're now facing," Benioff wrote in a note to staff.
Facebook owner Meta, as well as Twitter, Snap and Vimeo, have all announced major staff reductions in recent months, a remarkable reversal for an industry that has experienced gangbusters growth for more than a decade.
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Reporter's Notebook: How The Ripple Effect series was born
The Ripple Effect series focused on affordable housing solutions in the greater Seattle area.
I’ve been reporting on housing for KUOW for over 10 years, first as a freelancer, and then as a staff reporter. The housing shortage, and the way it shapes the city’s demographics, have become a huge story, but one that can feel really abstract.
One way I’ve found to tackle that is to take things neighborhood-by-neighborhood, to really hear how it’s affecting folks.
I came to South Park at the request of some neighbors who were upset about the new homes being built there, but quickly learned about the Latino and Southeast Asian communities there that were at risk of getting pushed out. I met with Bunthay Cheam, a member of the Khmer community. He’s also a freelance reporter whose day job is with a nonprofit housing provider, so he has a lot of useful insights. We decided to work together.
With help from Kamna Shastri of KUOW's Community Engagement team, We held a dinner party and listening session for a few members of his community and heard many stories. I went out and did further reporting on solutions, and brought these back to Bunthay for his perspective.
The result is a documentary where both the problems and solutions are viewed through the lens of people who are living their consequences.
In this one-hour special, you’ll meet members of the Southeast Asian communities in South Park. From there, we’ll expand outward, following the ripples of displacement in other cities, and chase the pattern back in history to the Central District and eventually to the founding of Seattle. We’ll take a road trip to see solutions from all over the region, including one policy idea meant to answer the question: “If we could do anything we wanted to address housing affordability, what would we do?”
My hope is that these intimate conversations will give listeners a unique lens through which to view housing news in 2023, a year when cities across the state will finalize their “comprehensive plans” outlining how they’ll grow for the next 20 years. It’ll be a year of big ideas, as the state Legislature begins meeting for a “long session” beginning in January. With several new faces joining this year, some Democratic legislators believe 2023 could be the year they finally remove bans on townhomes in single-family zones statewide, following in the footsteps of cities like Spokane and Olympia.
But beyond these larger goals to shed light on housing policy for you, this story satisfied a personal goal for me. As a reporter, I’ve always loved working as part of a team with someone else. By inviting in a community member who actively contributed to the project, we at KUOW were able to explore what it means to open up this circle of participation to include someone deeply rooted in the community we’re reporting on. The result, I believe, is something stronger than I could have done myself.
Au Kun, Bunthay.
Joshua McNichols
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Why did they attack substations in Pierce County?: Today So Far
- Why did two men attack four electrical substations in Pierce County over Christmas weekend?
- There are a lot of changes to pay and employer rules in Washington state as of Jan. 1.
- Another Seattle council member will not be running for reelection in 2023.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for January 4, 2023.
The FBI has arrested and charged two suspects for the attacks on four substations — Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, of Puyallup. They are accused of damaging Tacoma Power's Graham and Elk Plain substations and Puget Sound Energy's Kapowsin and Hemlock substations, causing millions in damage. Firearms were used in some of the incidents. The pair now faces potential sentences of up to 20 years in prison for the attacks on the energy grid, and 10 years for possession of an unregistered firearm (a sawed-off shotgun), if they are found guilty.
Why did these two men allegedly attack four electrical substations in Pierce County on Christmas? U.S. Attorney Nick Brown tells KUOW's Diana Opong that he won't speculate about potential motives. But one motive did come up in charging documents.
Greenwood allegedly made a statement to law enforcement following his arrest. Charging documents state, "Greenwood stated that Greenwood and Crahan have been planning to disrupt power to commit a burglary." Also, after the power was knocked out, Greenwood allegedly said they went to a local business, drilled out the lock and stole money from its cash register.
Seems like a lot of effort for some cash out of a register. More information is likely to emerge as the case moves along.
"These attacks here are incredibly serious," Brown said. "And we wanted to respond very quickly. We have seen, nationally, other attacks happen on power facilities and power substations, I think the most prominent of which was in North Carolina, which caused a really massive outage across that area. And we've seen other attacks, some small, but some more significant here in the Northwest, including in Western Washington."
"There have been so many attacks across the country, I would be surprised if all those are connected. Each case will stand on its own. And as the case develops, and we move forward, we might have further information, but as of now, it's just these two individuals charged with the conspiracy."
There are a lot of changes to pay and employer rules in Washington state as of Jan. 1. KUOW rounded up a few big ones, such as the state's $15 minimum wage, now the highest in the nation. Also, employers in Washington now have to be more transparent when advertising for a job, and list the pay range for the position. There will also be changes to rates for ride-share drivers and overtime rules for agricultural workers. Read more here.
There goes another one. Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen is now the third member to announce they will not be running for reelection in 2023. Lisa Herbold and Debora Juarez are also declining to run again. Unlike Herbold and Juarez, Petersen will be a one-term council member. In a statement, he said that his family needs him more right now than City Hall does. He plans to go into the private sector in 2024.
Seattle will have seven out of its nine council seats up for election in November. It seems that, so far, it will be open season for three of these seats. Read more here.
AS SEEN ON KUOW
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Flu and RSV on the decline in Washington state, Covid trajectory unclear
The number of flu infections in Washington state in the week leading up to Christmas appeared to be declining, according to recent numbers. Still, the virus continues to claim lives.
Confirmed flu cases and hospital visits prompted by flu-like illnesses fell for a third week, according to the Washington Department of Health.
The latest summary, which covers the week ending Christmas Eve, showed fewer lab-confirmed cases and the percentage of hospital visits shrinking. That drop-off comes as little surprise to Dr. Scott Lindquist, Washington’s state epidemiologist for communicable diseases.
“So this happens every single year," Lindquist said. "No one really understands it. We get this cyclical nature of all our respiratory viruses, with a sharp rise — usually later in the season — and then a sharp drop after that.”
Lindquist says historical trends tell us a second peak is likely as the winter goes on.
Meanwhile, influenza continues to exact a fatal toll. A total of 27 Washingtonians died from the flu the week ending Dec. 24, bringing the total to 93 for the season. For comparison, in the 2019-20 flu period, 114 people died in the whole season.
RSV and Covid cases in Washington state
After a scary surge in mid to late 2022, RSV appears to be in an ebb phase, according to the Washington Department of Health.
While a feared coronavirus wave hasn't yet materialized, the state isn't in the clear. Dr. Lindquist noted that RSV has a much more predictable nature than the coronavirus. It’s unclear what trajectory Covid will take from here.
“RSV, we have years and years of experience," Lindquist said. "What we don’t have is a lot of experience with SARS-CoV-2. So we are still learning lessons about how persistent this virus will be. What looks like a mild increase in the current strain could very easily become a new variant and have another peak.”
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Murray becomes first woman president pro tem of the Senate
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said she is looking forward to her new duties as the first woman president pro tem of the chamber.
"It is a responsibility that I'm very honored to take on for my country and for Washington state," Murray said. "I hope that when young women now see me in this position, they see that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to."
Normally, the president pro tem is third in line to the presidency, but Sen. Murray is now temporarily second in line behind Vice President Kamala Harris, because the House has yet to elect a new speaker. Murray says she will be ready in the unlikely event that she becomes president.
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Washington state's new solution for foster parents and child care
Every year, Washington state struggles to find placements for hundreds of foster care kids. One problem is that a lot of licensed foster parents in Washington can’t take in kids under 5.
Washington has about 8,000 children in foster care. The rule barring some parents from taking in kids younger than 5 is because, if both foster parents work, they need to find child care during the day. In Washington, and nationwide, there’s a child care shortage and long waitlists at licensed centers, so foster parents can’t find a spot on short notice.
A new rule aims to address this issue and just took effect at the start of the year.
The state has reversed a previous rule to address the shortage of both foster parents and child care in the state. The previous rule did not allow foster parents to provide in-home child care and also did not allow in-home child care providers to become foster parents.
The change this year streamlines the process for foster parents to become licensed to run in-home daycares, and it also makes it easy for people who run in-home day cares to become licensed foster parents.
The idea is to make it possible for foster parents to quit their day jobs and take care of their foster kids during the day. Foster parents who start in-home day cares can also help out other foster parents, if they want.
Since 2020, the state has run a pilot program of the new licensing rules. During that time, 15 people got dual licenses. More than half of them are Latino or Native American.
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Some fish in King County aren't safe to eat. How do you warn the right people?
Yellow perch, cutthroat trout, a couple of species of bass — in lakes Washington, Sammamish, and Meridian, these fish are not safe to eat.
The Washington State Department of Health has found that these and several other species of fish in three King County lakes are contaminated with a perfluorinated chemical that can harm immune and reproductive systems, and increase the risk of certain kinds of cancer.
RELATED: 3 fish from 3 King County lakes that you should not eat
Now the challenge is to get the word out to affected communities. The problem is: To do that, the state would first need to know who is eating these fish. And they’re not sure. The last study of who eats which fish species from King County lakes was done in 2007 — 15 years ago.
The agency is trying to cover its bases by posting a health advisory on its website in five languages. Popular fishing spots will also have health advisories posted in English, Spanish, and Chinese as well as other languages, depending on the location.
The agency has also reached out to the Wild Fish Conservancy and the Muckleshoot Tribe to let them know about the new research.
King County’s public health agency is contacting communities that fish the Duwamish — because those communities have been surveyed more recently and might also eat fish from local lakes — as well as to people who speak a variety of languages and might be able to help spread the word.
But a state fish biologist worries there are lots of public fishing piers, especially around Lake Washington, that might not have any posted warnings at all, so some anglers might not hear the news.
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Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen will not run for reelection in 2023
Seattle City Councilmember Alex Pedersen says he won't be running for reelection in 2023. Without the pressure of another campaign, he says he will focus on safety, fiscal responsibility, and "preventing economic, physical, and cultural displacement" in his final year in office.
“While I appreciate the encouragement from several neighborhood leaders from Wallingford to Wedgwood, I have decided not to seek re-election in 2023 to another four-year term as the fulltime City Councilmember for District 4," Pedersen said in a statement. "After 2023, my family will need me more than City Hall, and they are looking forward to having me back."
Pedersen represents Seattle's District 4. He was elected to the position in 2019 with 52% of the vote, and officially took office in 2020. He will therefore be a single-term council member, but says that he is "not a career politician." Reflecting on his time on the dais, Pedersen's announcement this week leaned into terms like "voice of reason," "rational," and "sensible public policy."
Following the announcement, Seattle Mayor Harrell expressed praise for Pedersen's work on the Council.
In a statement, Pedersen said that recent polling indicates there is more support in the city for his efforts, but "just because an elected official could win again doesn’t mean they should," and that he wants to "hand the reins to another qualified and pragmatic public servant."
Pedersen also noted his track record over the past couple years, including his votes to create the Regional Homelessness Authority and support for Rosie's Tiny Home Village in the U District; support infrastructure investments for the city's bridges; help to increase the number of school zone speed enforcements; and work to keep utility rate increases to a minimum.
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Washington state starts 2023 with ambitious new climate efforts
One of Washington's biggest climate programs yet launched on Jan. 1: the Clean Fuel Standard.
Under this program, fuel suppliers must gradually provide cleaner and cleaner fuels for gas pumps across the state, starting now, through 2034.
RELATED: Despite rise in emissions, Gov. Inslee says Washington can still meet carbon pollution goals
Also kicking in this month is a law that caps greenhouse gas emissions from the state's largest polluters. That program allows companies to buy carbon credits in an auction, which can be traded like other investments — also known as cap and invest.
In Seattle, the city will start funding its Green New Deal for the first time this year. That's the city's climate change master plan. As part of that, middle and low income residents will be eligible for assistance to buy heat pumps.
And this year, major federal incentives for green energy kick in. People can get tax credits for buying electric vehicles, installing rooftop solar, and heat pumps.
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Video game workers form Microsoft’s first US labor union
A group of video game testers has formed Microsoft’s first labor union in the U.S., which will also be the largest in the video game industry.
The Communications Workers of America said Tuesday that a majority of about 300 quality-assurance workers at Microsoft video game subsidiary ZeniMax Studios has voted to join the union.
Microsoft already told the CWA it would accept the formation of the union at its Maryland-based video game subsidiary, fulfilling a promise it made to try to build public support for its $68.7 billion acquisition of another big game company, Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft bought ZeniMax for $7.5 billion in 2021, giving the Xbox-maker control of ZeniMax’s well-known game publishing division Bethesda Softworks and popular game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout.
Senior game tester Wayne Dayberry said in an interview with The Associated Press that the unionization campaign began before Microsoft took over and reflected workplace concerns that are common at video game companies.
“Throughout the industry, the quality assurance departments are treated poorly, paid very little, and treated as replaceable cogs,” said Dayberry, who has worked for five years at ZeniMax’s Rockville, Maryland headquarters on games such as Fallout, Prey and The Evil Within.
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Video game testers approve the first union at Microsoft
A group of video game testers at Microsoft have formed the tech giant's first union, and Microsoft has signed off on it, according to Communications Workers of America, which represents the employees.
A "supermajority" of quality assurance workers at Microsoft's ZeniMax Studios, which produces video games such as Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Quake Champions, and Fallout, voted to join the union, CWA said Tuesday.
"We're thrilled to kick off 2023 in a workplace that's stronger and more equitable than it was last year," said Senior Quality Assurance Tester Skylar Hinnant. "This is an empowering victory that allows us to protect ourselves and each other in a way we never could without a union. Our hope and belief is that this is the year in which game workers across the country exercise their power and reshape the industry as a whole."
ZeniMax employees at Microsoft first signed their unionization cards in November and began voting in December.
When the employees announced they were unionizing, Microsoft vowed to remain neutral and let the employees make their own decision about joining, CWA said.
"Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union," CWA President Chris Shelton said. "Other video game and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft is charting a different course, which will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers, and should serve as a model for the industry and as a blueprint for regulators." [Copyright 2023 NPR]
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