The AP, God bless it, was rooting around SEC filings and discovered one sent in by Google on December 15 but not filed electronically and after some difficulty finally managed to lay its hands on a paper copy only to be rewarded with the revelation that the company has "jettisoned a substantial number of temporary workers in a recent austerity drive spurred by the recession" - maybe as many as 6,000 people.

It's also been cutting back on bennies like its famous free lunch.

Other parts of filing are redacted in the name of trade secrets but despite the economy and its cratered stock Google still intends to spend billions over the next two years on R&D and acquisitions.