There were some very long and detailed posts about massive layoffs before June 1st. It appears that a lot of money has been earmarked for severance packages. However, someone else was saying that this money does not necessarily have to be spent all at once.
So, it seems to me that it leaves things up in the air for June 1st, as to just how much of that money will be spent by the end of the fiscal year.
Anyone hearing any other rumors about layoffs in this quarter? What do you think will happen?
"Those that can be told later (UK in Europe, USA and a lot of other countries) will learn at a much later date."
add to the EMEA list Spain, all the EE countries (like Poland), CIS, CAT, all MEA.
Also to some degree, Italy and Benelux (even if it's tipically a longer and more expensive process).
Maybe quicker to list the only EMEA countries where it's basically impossible, or a very long and complex process, to layoff people: France and Germany. In every other EMEA country is more or less an easy task to layoff people.
Are there going to be people and companies who will be biased against people who were RIF'ED or worked for Oracle? Sure.
Is it a death sentence? No. I sincere doubt that all companies out there have the luxury or the will to be picky as you portray (esp. in a tight economy) unless they are some pre-madonna outfit.
In short, I don't think ppl. have anything to worry about if they have a good head on their shoulders and have a good positive attitude. I would think that going into the interview with a pessimistic and negative attitude will hurt your prospects more than getting you getting caught up in RIF.
You will be asked if you are still employed and if not, you will be asked why you left. It will come up. Lying about it is not a great way to start a new job.
I never said to lie about it. I said don't volunteer to bring it up. Big difference.
You will be asked if you are still employed and if not, you will be asked why you left. It will come up. Lying about it is not a great way to start a new job.
I have been on the other end of the interview process and the reality is that someone who is laid off is always suspect. We're not going to tell you that to your face, we are just going to think about it without telling you. If we have someone who is laid off, vs. someone who is actively looking for a good opportunity on their own, we will pick the person who is actively looking. We like people who are in charge of their own careers and lives, not people who just float along with the tide. Sorry, that's the way it works.
It's nice to tell yourself that your layoff won't affect anything, but it will. Oracle also has a bad reputation out there, which will not help you.
Getting laid off and rejected by a failing company is not a great thing to discuss at your next interview.
Then don't bring it up.
If you tell someone outside of Oracle, like at another company, that you were just hanging out, waiting for your package, you will not be impressing anyone.
I don't think anyone who's looking for a job is going to say that at the interview (unless they are interviewing as a stand up comic). I don't know why you would.
If you are laid off, you will have to explain why.
Companies layoff and reorg all the time, even in a good economy. If they are concerned that you were fired for a reason, they certainly wouldn't be relying on your explanation alone. The interview is a 2 way street, you need to figure out if the place and people are a good fit for you. If you feel targeted on your interview, why would you want to work there? A little dose of scrutiny is ok and expected, but coming into the interview with a bias attitude against you because you used to work at O. is not. Courtesy and respect should be expected and received on both ends. They are hiring you as a individual based on your merits. If they cannot ascertain that through the interview process or references, then they are incompetent and deserve what they get.
You need to differentiate yourself for that next job.
No doubt about that.
I call BS on the Blame the Vicitm for the Layoff Jazz. There was a time when a layoff was seen as a MANAGEMENT FAILURE, which it is. Now the script has flipped, and it is your fault. Just think of how this empowers businesses to pass the blame for their failures. Nobody retrains their employees. Wasteful, not to mention letting a shed load of institutional knowledge that walks out the door with them.
Within Oracle there is a kind-of lax attitude towards work... it's like management is really messed up... what can we do.... I guess we wait to be laid off so we can collect.
If you tell someone outside of Oracle, like at another company, that you were just hanging out, waiting for your package, you will not be impressing anyone.
That easy-going, what-can-I-do/oh-well attitude, is acceptable inside Oracle only. Other companies will be looking for people who enjoy their work and are proactive at solving problems... not people who just go with the flow and hang out for their packages. If you are laid off, you will have to explain why.
I say this because it's a real struggle for some people who leave Oracle to realize that the rest of the work world doesn't have this attitude. Before my time at Oracle, we hired an Oracle employee at another company. This guy was great at BS and coming to meetings 10 minutes late, had NO idea what he was doing. People at other companies actually expect employees to do real work.
If you are a good employee, get your sh-- together and take charge of your life, otherwise, you may very well look like some lazy Oracle employee that someone hired before you, and they don't want to take a chance on another one. You need to differentiate yourself for that next job.
@SsW6TpM-2yjh, thank you. True #GOLD post
You may be waiting for your package and monetarily that looks like the best option for now. But once you are laid off, you will be going to other companies to interview and you will have to explain something about your layoff.
People who are laid off do not make a great impression at interviews.
Consider taking control of your life, updating your skills and your resume and proactively looking for another job. You will appear to be the smart person who realizes you are working for a failing company and is doing the right thing for your career.
Getting laid off and rejected by a failing company is not a great thing to discuss at your next interview.
@SsW6TpM: Yes, there will be layoffs. Depends on the local laws, but they want a lot of legacy employees gone by June 1st. They will actually announce the layoff to (former) employees as late as legally possible.
Those in (most) EU countries already know that they are (or were) laid off. Oracle doesn't keep them around, so it's gardening leave. Those that can be told later (UK in Europe, USA and a lot of other countries) will learn at a much later date. You're not safe until you come to work on June 4th.
You may be waiting for your package and monetarily that looks like the best option for now. But once you are laid off, you will be going to other companies to interview and you will have to explain something about your layoff.
People who are laid off do not make a great impression at interviews.
Consider taking control of your life, updating your skills and your resume and proactively looking for another job. You will appear to be the smart person who realizes you are working for a failing company and is doing the right thing for your career.
Getting laid off and rejected by a failing company is not a great thing to discuss at your next interview.
The last paragraph is very good advice. I got hit 9/1/17 and did not expect it at that time. I knew it would come but I was working on a "critical project". The severance was acceptable and I landed on my feet.
One thing to pay attention to is that Oracle tech is behind the curve. The AWS deployments and job openings prove this. Don;t listen to me, look at indeed.com. There are NO Oracle cloud jobs.
Really good advice from @SsW6TpM-eca. Thanks
LE, MH and SC have their bonuses tied to corporate performance, so they will do whatever it takes in order to continue pocketing millions of dollars. The reality is that...
Oracle's on-premise/licensing model has peaked as corporations are finding better, less expensive alternatives.
Customers are moving to the Cloud, but not many are choosing Oracle.
The strongest area for Oracle is for business applications -- some customers are too locked in to go anywhere other than Oracle's SaaS offerings (i.e. Oracle is discontinuing on-premise offerings and forcing customers to move) and others are jumping onboard with the NetSuite acquisition as they have yet to learn how Oracle treats customers.
The other significant area where Oracle can hold on to customers is with database as it isn't easy or cheap to migrate to another database.
When everything is said and done, Oracle is seeing declining revenues and has been playing financial games to try and counteract that (e.g. buying back stock to make the earnings per share number go up, using international monetary investments to buoy Oracle's overall financial outlook, etc.). Part of that approach has been to cut internal costs. If you look up MH's history, you'll see that this is the only thing he knows how to do. If you look at internal perks/benefits over the past few years, you'll see that he has been playing the same game at Oracle. If you listen to his own statements internally over the past 2 years, you'll see his devotion to the idea that Oracle Direct/Oracle Digital is the "heart" of the sales organization. Compare that to IBM's moves and recent emphasis on lining up jobs for high school grads as a way to get access to even cheaper labor. It is all a play to cut costs -- get rid of older employees with higher salaries and replace them with younger, lower cost graduates. With the earmarking of funds for layoffs publicly revealed in 10-Q statements, it all fits together -- MH plans to continue to reduce costs through layoffs of older employees and shifting to younger employees in places like Austin where "hubs" are being built for telemarketing/telesales.
There are plenty of rumors swirling around layoffs in May, but nobody seems to know for certain. My bet is that the layoffs will materialize. I would think that the layoffs will take into account things like which customers are the largest/most profitable for Oracle, what large deals could be incoming and who might be needed to help Oracle continue transitioning knowledge to the hubs. In my estimation, the cuts will be deep, but to think that the entire field sales organization is going to be wiped out is an overstatement. The "best" places to be would seem to be in SaaS sales (especially NetSuite), DB sales or Cloud Architecture as long as the customer is important/strategic and there is significant revenue on the line. Otherwise, Oracle simply has setup too many sales overlays per customer and this needs to be trimmed back/consolidated because it is too expensive to maintain. More than likely, the decisions about what the reorganization will look like started a while ago and the talks about who will go and who will be kept is already starting at higher levels.
My advice to everyone is simple -- keep your options open and make yourself marketable. Given that many have been at Oracle for a number of years, that likely means taking some time to go learn more about Cloud architectures, other SaaS providers, Cloud-based development, etc. and to update the resume and/or LinkedIn. Regardless of whether you plan to leave ASAP, want to see if a severance package is coming or are hoping to retain a position at Oracle, be prepared!