WebGuild reports: Today, in documents obtain by the Associated Press, Google filed a paper document with the SEC stating that “a substantial number of temporary workers” had been laid off. The company has sought special exemption to keep the document from circulating on the Web.

The document states that Google has 24,400 employees, however on September 30, 2008 the company reported to the SEC that it had 20,123 employees when in reality it had 30,000. At that time Google did not report the 10,000 temporary employees to the SEC, because Google wanted the option to lay off employees on demand to meeting earning expectations without reporting to the SEC.

Now the company says 4,300 of the 24,400 employees are temporary. So why report temporary employees now and not then? Why get an exemption to keep the documents private?

Further the company reported 30,000 employees on November 24, 2008 and 24,400 on Dec 15, 2008. Where did 6,000 employees disappear to in 3 weeks?