The University of Washington announced the layoff of 66 workers in the technology division, the largest layoff in a decade. The Seattle Times reports:

UW Technology Vice President Ron Johnson said the increasing availability of free or low-cost services on the Web through companies such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com are rendering some UW services — such as e-mail and document sharing — obsolete. He said annual revenue has dropped by $10 million, to $40 million.

A number of large research universities are finding themselves in a similar situation, Johnson said, and he wouldn’t be surprised if layoffs followed in other parts of the country.

The UW layoffs are effective June 30 and include people who work in a range of different jobs. About a dozen of the affected workers are unionized. The UW said it would try to place people in jobs elsewhere on campus or in the region whenever possible.

Seattle is one of the last areas of increased growth in the tech industry, buffered by many big names in the business.