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Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

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Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#101

Post by BurningFrog »

pololee wrote: post #47

I was one of the people being let go in this round. I moved to Seattle and joined OCI as a Senior Engineer at the end of Jan 2019. Yesterday when I came to the office and was doing my work at 9:00 AM, the whole team about 20 people were called by VP to have a meeting at 10:00 AM. He said the whole team got terminated. We had to turn in the computer by 12:00 PM and leave the office by 3:00 PM. There was no buffer time…

The H-1B situation, at least back in my day, is that formally you need a new job within X days, but in reality no one cares as long as you don't leave the country.

If you're unsure/nervous, talk to an immigration lawyer. A 1 hour consultation is quite affordable.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#102

Post by cannonedhamster »

john_moscow wrote: post #94
pololee wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The VP also mentioned they were thinking about the plan in Jan. So why the hell did you hire me then? I joined at the end of Jan.

It is entirely plausible that they hired you so that they won't have to lay off someone they actually care about.

Well they laid off the entire team, so that's unlikely. These are typically product pivots, not financial downsizings when it's entire teams.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#103

Post by ahi »

why_only_15 wrote: post #52
ssalazars wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

high paying multi million dollar companies https://cloud.oracle.com/en_US/iaas/customers

Interesting that few of those are tech companies. For comparison, AWS's list is mostly tech companies: https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/

I know a CIO of a large private company (billions revenue) that has an associates in business mgmt and was promoted from within. Excellent people skills and a good golf game. There's no way they can recruit a competent and empowered IT team so a good sales team makes the decisions. Outside of tech companies, I have no doubt that this is the norm.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#104

Post by john_moscow »

shemnon42 wrote: post #98
luckydata wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's complete bullshit, hiring bonuses don't have to be repaid if they terminate you for any reason. They were trying to make you feel like the manager went to bat for you, which isn't the case.

Check your employment paperwork. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. To make you pay it back after just hiring is a jerk move, but not all executives are kind.

Why would anyone sign a contract that makes them liable for the relocation expenses (that could be easily ~50K for intercontinental moves) based on a risk that is outside their control?

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#105

Post by john_moscow »

cannonedhamster wrote: post #102
john_moscow wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is entirely plausible that they hired you so that they won't have to lay off someone they actually care about.

Well they laid off the entire team, so that's unlikely. These are typically product pivots, not financial downsizings when it's entire teams.

They could have done it on the division level. Pad your org with a relatively useless team just before the forced 10% layoff and you've dodged the bullet.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#106

Post by YeahSureWhyNot »

whatshisface wrote: post #93
president wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're describing is general corporate culture after a company has experienced its hayday. Usually all the passionate people including original founders have cashed out, exited the company, and there is nobody left that actually cares about the company. There is a lot of room for mistakes and not delivering results because money grows on trees. People end up skating by and milking their one-hit-wonder cashcow pr…

I wonder what will sprout up in the ashes once Google goes further in that direction. Today the real tech companies are shining beacons of comparative competence but that can't last forever.

and Google is full on speed in that direction

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#107

Post by klipt »

ineedasername wrote: post #55
mancerayder wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From an ethical perspective, Oracle is mean to tech (open source, buyouts and so on, mean licensing setups with companies). On the other hand, Google and Facebook seem to contribute more to tech while being absolutely vile to the general public. Cutesy yellow and green bicycles and thumbs up signs don't negate the societal harm these companies have done by vacuuming personal data and selling it at such scale. Then ag…

Higher Education, colleges and universities, are generally excellent work environments with excellent benefits. Depending on job, salary isn't always competitive with the tech sector though.

Also getting a cushy tenured position takes years of hard work, and the alternative is being a perpetual postdoc which is paid abysmally.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#108

Post by jasonallen »

pololee wrote: post #47

I was one of the people being let go in this round. I moved to Seattle and joined OCI as a Senior Engineer at the end of Jan 2019. Yesterday when I came to the office and was doing my work at 9:00 AM, the whole team about 20 people were called by VP to have a meeting at 10:00 AM. He said the whole team got terminated. We had to turn in the computer by 12:00 PM and leave the office by 3:00 PM. There was no buffer time…

If you or anyone affected is interested: I'm hiring in AWS both in Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Email me at alljay at amazon.com.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#109

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

BurningFrog wrote: post #101
pololee wrote: post #47

I was one of the people being let go in this round. I moved to Seattle and joined OCI as a Senior Engineer at the end of Jan 2019. Yesterday when I came to the office and was doing my work at 9:00 AM, the whole team about 20 people were called by VP to have a meeting at 10:00 AM. He said the whole team got terminated. We had to turn in the computer by 12:00 PM and leave the office by 3:00 PM. There was no buffer time…

The H-1B situation, at least back in my day, is that formally you need a new job within X days, but in reality no one cares as long as you don't leave the country. If you're unsure/nervous, talk to an immigration lawyer. A 1 hour consultation is quite affordable.

It's not that simple. Whenever you report the exact dates of employment (which you can't easily fudge as they have to match with what the employer can / will attest to), such as for applying for a Green card, it will be clear that you have been in violation of status, in case you were out of work for >60 days. And then you are at the mercy of USCIS/DHS. You also have to attest that you have not been in violation of status when you apply for a visa. Most people don't want to commit perjury by lying on Visa forms.

It should also be noted that this 60-day margin is a recent (2015 or so) relief by the Obama administration that for some reason managed to fly under the Trump radar of undoing Obama's immigration-related reprieves.

Before that, you would technically be in violation of status literally the next day of the firing. Imagine living in the US legally for 10+ yrs, having a house and kids here who are American citizens, and suddenly be in violation of status and expected to pack your bags and leave the next day coz you got laid off.

I see a lot of (well-justified) anger on HN against H-1B etc. but most citizens don't know what perversities our so called 'highly qualified' labor pool has to deal with. These are unique to the United States, btw. No other developed country has such a ridiculous work visa system.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#110

Post by zaphirplane »

anti_milestone2 wrote: post #17
samstave wrote: post #2

I wouldnt be able to say why anyone would want to be working at oracle these days. What compelling reason does oracle even have to attract talent? (Im not being snide, seeious questions)

The new cloud infrastructure group is kind of hidden gem. Its very different than the rest of Oracle. It started in Seattle about 4 years ago and is like 40% ex Amazon and 40% ex Microsoft. They also pay very well, because Oracle doesn't have a great reputation. The work is good, with a TON of room for growth and leadership. The goal is ambitious (take on the big players) and well funded. The people are good. Worklif…

That is the same group this story is about ? Funny recommendation
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