Google cut its workforce by 16.9 percent in the second quarter, with most of the bleeding coming from its Motorola Mobile operations and the sale of its Motorola Home business.  The news was better within the company's core operations. At the end of the quarter, Google had 44,777 employees worldwide. In its second quarter earnings report, the company said the Motorola Mobile workforce was reduced by more than half. The unit ended the period with 4,599 employees, down nearly 54 percent from the previous quarter. Those cuts deepened the slice the company took last year, when Google said it would cut 20 percent of Motorola Mobile’s headcount and close a third of its 94 offices worldwide. The layoffs were part of Google’s decision to exit from unprofitable markets and discontinue manufacturing low-end phones to focus on smartphones. By selling Motorola Home to ARRIS Group, the company also divested itself of about 5,200 employees. Motorola Home focuses on design, engineering and supplying technology for triple and quad-play broadband services for businesses and consumers.

Google Employees Miss Bullet

Google’s core employees had less to worry about. Retention and hiring remains unaffected by the Motorola layoffs, CEO Larry Page said during a conference call with analysts. Not including Motorola Mobile workers, the company ended the second quarter with a 40,178 employees, an increase of 3.7 percent from the first quarter. “We have not seen a significant change in hiring in the short-term,” said Page. “The retention has also been great. People want to work on important things that make the world better. Our retention has been stable.”

Earnings Miss

Google reported a surprising miss on its financial results for the second quarter, pulling in revenues of $14.11 billion. That was up 19 percent from over the same period last year, but still less than the $14.41 billion Wall Street was expecting.