Blue Origin layoffs: CEO cites ‘bureaucracy and less focus’

• There is a similar theme in memos to employees at Jeff Bezos’ companies, as GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop notes.

Above: Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, left, and founder Jeff Bezos get a look at a New Glenn rocket on a launch pad in Florida. (Blue Origin Photo)

In other layoff news: Seattle-based real estate company Redfin is cutting 450 jobs as it announced plans to form a rentals-focused partnership with Zillow Group.

• Track the latest job cuts with our regularly updated layoff tracker.

City of Seattle workers filed a class action lawsuit against the city over its handling of a payroll and human resources system upgrade that they claim resulted in numerous payroll errors. The complaint cites last fall’s switch to a system from business cloud software giant Workday, which the city concedes has been challenging. Read more.

Swizzle Ventures founder Jessica Kamada does not have a traditional startups and venture capital background. And that’s exactly what helped her land $6.6 million for a new Seattle-based fund. Read more.

Amazon is running into “glitches” with its latest return-to-office mandate, including a lack of desks and parking at various locations, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Hot Links:

• Microsoft’s threat intelligence team published new research about a subgroup within Russian state actor Seashell Blizzard that is targeting the U.S. (Microsoft; Wired)

• A new survey finds that trust in AI is significantly higher in China than in the U.S. (Axios)

• Amazon apologized to actor Mandy Moore after she shared an image of a package delivered to her husband’s parents’ home that was destroyed in the Los Angeles fires. (NBC News)

• Startup 425 celebrated the graduation of its first accelerator cohort featuring startups from across the Seattle region, and is taking applications for the next group. (City of Bellevue; LinkedIn)

• The latest Windows patches address critical security vulnerabilities. (ZDNET)