Oracle Layoffs: Hundreds, Not Thousands
by John Paczkowski
Posted on January 12, 2009 at 11:31 AM PT
Oracle has apparently ushered in the new year with a bit of a bloodletting. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Tim Klasell says the company has sacked some employees in sales and marketing. “Our sense is that the current reduction was well planned and not a hasty reaction to an unplanned event,” he claims in a research note issued today.
Actually, it seems quite systematic. “It’s part of the global cost-cutting move,” one Oracle (ORCL) employee tells The Times of India, which notes that 40 workers were just let go at the company’s Bangalore offices. “This is just the initial move and the numbers will definitely increase. By next week, we should get the actual figures.”
Now, word on the street has it that the figure in question here is somewhere around 8,000. But there’s no mention of Oracle in the latest EDD Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification list, which would seem to suggest that 8,000 figure is bogus. And according to our sources it is. We’re told that layoffs are occurring, but that their number is in the hundreds, not thousands.
Comments
I’m with you, John. There’s a lot of buzz around that 10% / 8,000 number, but at this point nothing substantiates it. Yes, layoffs are rolling in, but we don’t yet know if they’re on such a grand scale.
I’ve developed my own little theory that Oracle’s layoffs will be slight for now, and that the largest cut will come between April 29 and May 31… that’s the window after which Oracle’s severance package clause with former-BEA employees expires (guaranteeing them 3-12 months severance if laid off within the 1st 12 months after last year’s takeover) and before Oracle’s fiscal year ends on May 31st. Just a theory, so time will tell.
I’ve posted an article separating the fact from the fiction, check it out if you’re so inclined:
http://www.thedailyanchor.com/.....om-rumors/
Posted by Andrew Lennon at January 13th, 2009 at 11:21 am