AI and animal tracking | Layoffs at First Mode | Fullcast acquired, relocates to SLC

Layoffs at First Mode: The Seattle-based maker of zero-emission power systems for heavy vehicles such as mining trucks reduced its workforce by about 20% as it adjusts its vision for decarbonization and future products. Read more.

• Layoff tracker: Our regularly updated list of job cuts in the Pacific Northwest.

• Related: Job candidates are “trading off upside for safety,” says Jeff Spector, co-founder of Seattle startup Karat, in a CNBC story about the impact of layoffs on tech workers. 

Fullcast, a software startup founded in the Seattle area that helps companies manage and automate their revenue-generating operations, is changing ownership and its headquarters location after an acquisition deal. Read more. 

Generative AI added to toolkit to help job seekers: Seattle-area nonprofit Global Mentorship Initiative is teaching college students and recent graduates around the world how to use new digital tools to help search, apply, and interview for jobs. The initiative has 5,000 volunteer mentors in 127 countries, with about 1,000 of those coming from Microsoft. (Above: Global Mentorship Initiative founder and CEO Jon Browning, left, with the first student cohort in Johannesburg in 2019.) Read more.

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Hot Links:

• Microsoft has enabled a feature in its Edge browser that lets users query two search engines (i.e., Google and Bing) simultaneously with one keyword search. (MSPowerUser)

• Smartsheet says it’s the first “collaborative work management category” company to reach $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue. (Smartsheet)

• Amazon is growing its sports business with a minority investment stake in Diamond Sports, the largest operator of regional sports networks. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Seattle’s Mike Davidson, a former Twitter employee, is among the owners of various headquarters decor that was auctioned off when Elon Musk took over the company. See the painting Davidson ended up with. (The Wall Street Journal)

• Amid layoffs and a disillusion with Big Tech, more young tech workers are ditching big cities and heading for places like Boise, Idaho. (Wired)

• Seattle sports broadcaster Jen Mueller shares five leadership lessons she learned from former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. (Talk Sporty To Me)