Microsoft Cuts Can’t Cool Seattle Hunger for Code Writers

The largest job cuts in Microsoft Corp.’s history are a recruiting opportunity for Seattle-area rivals, who see them as a chance to snatch talent.

In a measure of the Redmond, Washington-based company’s lessening dominance of a regional software industry it all but created, technology executives say the cuts may only dent a frenzied job market driven by companies from Amazon.com Inc. to Zillow Inc. Some entice workers with perks such as free lunches, paid dry cleaning and, at one startup, a half-share of a sustainably raised hog for scouting a new software engineer.