Google to Lay Off 4,000

It’s not as bad as it looks, actually:

Two-thirds of the reductions will be outside the U.S., the Mountain View, California-based company said in a regulatory filing today. Google will also shut down about one-third of Motorola Mobility’s 90 facilities and simplify its wireless product portfolio, it said. Google said the measure will incur severance-related costs of no more than $275 million.

Google bought Moto as a defensive play to protect Android. Problem is, Moto kinda sucks, and has for a while now. These cuts were coming, even in a robust economy.