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Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

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Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#171

Post by krn1p4n1c »

I was in the OCI group, left just over a year ago, and just heard from a couple of my old colleagues that they were just let go. Unreal since our group was one of the few really really profitable ones.

I agree with the comments about the quality of people in OCI, it was a big step up from the first pass with the PSM group. Much more of the move-fast and do things right kind of mentality and a lot of hires of people with real scale experience trying to do it better the next time. I hope everyone affected can find better jobs.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#172

Post by kerng »

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…

Isn't Seattle mostly OCI? Why the layoffs there?

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#173

Post by milemi »

gautamdivgi wrote: post #113
milemi wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel so old because to me OCI means Oracle Call Interface, their DB client C API. I guess nobody cares that it may confuse people like me.

Oh wow... finally another person who has used it. I remember writing a C++ class library to wrap base OCI functions about 15 years ago.

No need to do that anymore because they now have their own C++ api, and it's called ... OCCI!

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#174

Post by fgonzag »

garyclarke27 wrote: post #143

Maybe Postgres plays a part in this?? I used to have a business that sold Microsoft Dynamics ERP/CRM which required Enterprise version SQL licences, at truly insane prices per core ie $100k+ per server. At that time Oracle was even more expensive. When I started a business based on Postgres, I found it incredible that we could get a (much better dev platform for our needs) completely free! Recently Postgres has added…

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but anyone here works in a medium to large company using Postgres (especially one that switched from multi million dollar licensing), convincing the hire ups of setting a up a small yearly donation or buying a support contract from a core developer is how we can give back.

I honestly think PostgreSQL is one the core pillars of the open source community, and one of the more underfunded ones.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#175

Post by anarazel »

fgonzag wrote: post #174
garyclarke27 wrote: post #143

Maybe Postgres plays a part in this?? I used to have a business that sold Microsoft Dynamics ERP/CRM which required Enterprise version SQL licences, at truly insane prices per core ie $100k+ per server. At that time Oracle was even more expensive. When I started a business based on Postgres, I found it incredible that we could get a (much better dev platform for our needs) completely free! Recently Postgres has added…

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but anyone here works in a medium to large company using Postgres (especially one that switched from multi million dollar licensing), convincing the hire ups of setting a up a small yearly donation or buying a support contract from a core developer is how we can give back. I honestly think PostgreSQL is one the core pillars of the open source community, and one of the more unde…

Hear hear.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#176

Post by shalmanese »

jtreminio wrote: post #168
shalmanese wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the longest time, APMs had to have a phone screen with Marissa Mayer before they got hired. My main question when she asked me if I had any questions was whether this was the best use of her time. I don't know if that had any influence or not over their decision.

Don't leave us hanging - did it have a negative or positive effect on the outcome?

Candidates aren't told why they were accepted/rejected from a job.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#177

Post by samstave »

ssalazars wrote: post #44
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)

I currently work for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure; ex AWS for Commerce Platform and Identity organizations. Let me tell you, OCI has a group of brilliant, industry mature developers and people. I've been working here for 2 years, and I've never been happier before. This org is nothing like Oracle Corp; started by ex-AWS/MSFT people, the environment feels just like those companies + a well funded start-up hype. And the…

Can you expand on the AWS culture of backstabbing? (Serious question: Could that be due to the number of H1-B employees they have?)

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#178

Post by samstave »

ahi wrote: post #97
ineedasername wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I work in higher ed. Salaries are nowhere near competitive. However, everyone I work with has opted for good work environment over money. Tends to lead to self-selection of nice people, even if they aren't "rockstars".

I knew a couple of people who worked at Stanford in various capacities (admissions, and administration, IIRC) -- and while I didnt understand what they were good at, or what they did per se, they were some of the more genuinely nice and honest than many people I have met.

My problem is that I am too naive to sharks and assholes.

I have met thousands and thousands of people in may 22 year career in tech. Of which a very very small number I am friends with still - as I find that many people are way more cunning and conniving than I allow myself to admit.

Re: Oracle Swings the Layoff Axe

#179

Post by repolfx »

chrisseaton wrote: post #149
sanderjd wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What honestly confuses me is why people of that caliber continue to work for Oracle when everybody has read umpteen stories like the OP and lots of us even know people who can attest to the toxicity of the company first hand. The usual counterbalance to a company treating employees like crap is that it tarnishes the company's reputation, making it harder to find talent. Oracle's reputation has been below rock bottom…

I work for Oracle. The freedom I get there to pursue what I'm interested in is I think almost unheard of in the rest of the industry. All my work is open source and on GitHub. Oracle gives me two weeks extra leave a year for community service. When I was in HQ I got a private soundproof locking office with a mountain view. Now I work from home. I go as many conferences as I think I should. These are all things people…

Yeah, and the stuff you work on is really cool. The GraalVM project is probably the most advanced compiler and VM infrastructure in the world and it's not in the old Sun parts, it seems to be pure Oracle.

I have to admit, I didn't have a great impression of Oracle before the last few years or so, but sometimes I can't help feeling that their reputation may not be entirely deserved. Google went from having stellar reputation to being dumped on continuously and routinely described as 'immoral', although nothing about the firm or what it did had actually changed. Ditto for Facebook. Microsoft went from being the cool kid in the 80s (against IBM) to the evil monopolist to the stagnant yesterday's team to being cool again very recently, although I doubt the company has actually changed so drastically.

If I were looking for a job tomorrow I'd definitely consider joining the Graal team. Oracle's reputation (and now these layoffs) would certainly make me think twice, but, the work is cutting edge, high impact, Oracle has been a relatively decent steward of Java and its "negative" actions have only been about trying to make it fiscally sustainable, which is hardly a bad goal. And it's not like they've pursued that goal aggressively.

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