Google Australia cuts a handful

in brief Google today confirmed it had cut 15 staff from its operations in Australia and New Zealand as part of a global pull-back.

A spokesperson for the search giant confirmed reports of the redundancies. Google has also closed its Melbourne office as it focuses its efforts on its head office in Sydney, with most staff located in a new Pyrmont building shared with technology consultancy Accenture.

Google is still looking for staff in other areas. The search giant's Sydney office employed around 200 staff as at mid-2008 and had been growing strongly since Google established itself locally; not just in sales areas but also in engineering and research and development.