Microsoft Corp. plans Monday to file a proposal with the city of Redmond that would allow the software giant to build offices at its headquarters complex for another 10,000 to 12,000 workers. The company cautioned that the development proposal should not be taken as an indicator of how many jobs it plans to add in the region over the next two decades. Microsoft has about 28,000 employees in the Puget Sound region and about 57,000 worldwide. The company has said it plans to hire between 6,000 and 7,000 workers worldwide during its fiscal year that ends in June, with about half of those jobs around Seattle.
United’s odd day for labor pacts
United Airlines lost a key bankruptcy court ruling over its new pilots’ agreement Friday, but achieved last-minute negotiating breakthroughs with two other unions to postpone an awkward courtroom showdown over its push for new labor contracts. The flurry of developments brought mixed progress for the nation’s No. 2 airline in its efforts to slash labor costs for the second time in its two-year bankruptcy. After the court setback, United announced a tentative short-term labor agreement with its mechanics’ union and said it was on the verge of a similar pact with flight attendants.
Consumers slash borrowing by 5%
Keeping a watchful eye on their debt, consumers cut back on their borrowing in November by the largest amount on record, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. Consumer credit dropped by $8.7 billion in November from October, marking the largest over-the-month decrease since the Fed began keeping records in 1943. The cutback represented a 5 percent decline at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
WorldCom execs to pay $18 million
Ten former WorldCom Inc. directors will personally pay $18 million to compensate for investor losses from an accounting scandal that caused one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history. The payments will mark one of the first times that executives who presided over corporate misdeeds have agreed to assume personal financial liability for the resulting damage. The directors did not admit to any wrongdoing.
Investigators probe Buffet subsidiary
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it received a subpoena from the New York state attorney general demanding information about its reinsurance subsidiary General Re Corp. Buffett said the subpoena seeks documentation and information relating to nontraditional or loss mitigation insurance products.
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