Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Oracle slashes 30k jobs

rollingout.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

651–660 of 890 posts

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#651

Post by bombcar »

rwmj wrote: post #451
kyledrake wrote: post #157

The bulk of the comments in here are focused on comparing Larry Ellison to a lawn mower, so I'll try a new tack and say that I'm genuinely confused at what the value prop of Oracle is. Given the history of their business model being licensing of important databases that are hard to switch off of, I've actually made a point to avoid using Oracle as much as possible (even so far as to leave MySQL when they acquired it,…

I actually sat through an Oracle sales presentation around 1999 (I was the product engineer, along with company executives) and honestly it sounded pretty good. At the time we were using Lotus Notes for a database so even pencil and paper would have been better. Oracle absolutely was the market leader and there was no doubt about its technical chops. Oracle Parallel Server could run active-active across two sites sep…

Oracle was (and I assume is) able to provide "hardware" level support for their software, if you paid enough and your database was shitting itself at 2 AM, they'd have engineers on the phone and maybe on the plane to get you back up and running.

For smaller companies and businesses? Not needed. For big multinationals where a minute of downtime is millions of dollars in revenue? Oracle is cheap.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#652

Post by jimkleiber »

rustystump wrote: post #602
jimkleiber wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds as if you're describing how to humanely kill a living being. There are alternatives to killing things and I don't think fast clean cut is true in all industries. I think people want it to be true because then it hides away the complexity of the emotions we feel. Just cut it off and pretend that the cutting off won't bother us or them after the event. I think that strategy may appear helpful but just buries…

Killing is an escalation to what i said. The reality is the layoff decision has been made. There is no undo. It is better to cut cleanly as it allows people to move on faster than drawing it out. The best thing for the most people is to help them move on to the next gig quickly. The people u work with bosses included, are what make or break this. In my experience, people help one another. I have seen ceo’s push resum…

Oh I didn't mean to say that's what you wanted it to mean, just that I've heard clean cut in two main spaces: taking off bandages and slaughtering animals.

If you mean clean cut as in only cleanly cut the contract, but then maintain the relationship in other ways, I think that could make sense, as it doesn't pretend the decision hasn't already been made. I think I was reacting to clean cut the relationship completely, which I don't even think works well. But yeah, I'd appreciate if the individuals or even the company helped the people out.

It'd be like ending a relationship with someone who was financially dependent on you and just letting them fall of the cliff, compared to saying that you know it doesn't work for you two together, but you'll financially help them transition. I dunno, some people should say clean cut the relationship, drop friendships, never talk, cold turkey, I just don't know how well that works for human well being in the long term.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#653

Post by bombcar »

x0x0 wrote: post #581
sellmethepen wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's more to it than just pure databases. They have a pretty large vertical of SaaS apps, specifically ERP. Oracle Saas (their ERP platform) is used by thousands of customers - these are systems implemented with SI's and run super critical functions like payroll, manufacturing, etc really hard to rip out once they're put in place. This has been fueling their growth for some time, and seems like OCI is picking up n…

Yeah, many of these comments are extremely misinformed. Oracle has been an application software vendor for a long time. For example, Oracle sell Opera. Opera manages hotels, both individual and chains. And integrates with their amusement park management software. People complain about them, but software like that is much closer to an sdk than a finished product. It is generally customized for each buyer for their nee…

Enterprise software as an SDK with a demo is a perfect way of explaining it - I'll have to remember that.

Jira, installed fresh, is nice. Jira after it implements your enterprise disfunction, is a new level of hell Dante couldn't've dreamed of.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#654

Post by ZenoArrow »

milkytron wrote: post #623
ZenoArrow wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? Based on what I've seen online the company name was derived from a CIA project from the 1970s that the founders worked on, but it doesn't seem to be based on an acronym. There was an earlier unrelated project from the 1950s which used ORACLE as an acronym ("Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine"). If this is a joke, I clearly don't get it!

I think the intention was a joke: One Rich A*hole Called Larry Elison.

Ah okay, thanks!

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#655

Post by Jaco07 »

Another consequence of the AI boom. Not in the simplistic sense that “AI is replacing jobs,” but rather in the sense that companies are realizing they have overspent dramatically on a product that still is not strong enough to justify the scale of that investment or deliver a meaningful return.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#656

Post by [deleted] »

chasd00 wrote: post #367
diehunde wrote: post #188

Could this be the start of the AI bubble bursting? There are so many rumors going around about data centers not being built, GPUs waiting to be installed, debt, and much more. Crazy times.

Follow the datacenter companies like Coreweave, when they start to have problems everyone else will start to have problems. Coreweave was bailed out by Nvidia once already and managed to get another $8B loan today. They and others are up to their eyeballs in debt so any trouble will show up first in companies like Coreweave trying to build the datacenters and bring them online.

[deleted]

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#657

Post by steve_adams_86 »

IshKebab wrote: post #351
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great alternative would be operating a company correctly so you don't end up in a situation where you need to cut 30k jobs at once with no notice. That's a bizarre thing that's becoming practically normalized in the USA tech industry.

The realistic alternative is to regularly cut a smaller number of people, which is awful for morale.

Does it have to be awful for morale if the reasoning is clear and compassionate? People understand that shit happens.

And I don't mean this in a mean or evil way, but (of course there's a but) I wonder if this would motivate people to work more effectively as well. My organization has had cuts lately, but it hasn't in a decade. It has been transformative. People are reminded that their jobs depend on them showing up and being valuable.

I don't want people to be scared for their jobs. Perhaps this cycle creates false security, though. There must be a balance in here somewhere.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#658

Post by ModernMech »

kyledrake wrote: post #157

The bulk of the comments in here are focused on comparing Larry Ellison to a lawn mower, so I'll try a new tack and say that I'm genuinely confused at what the value prop of Oracle is. Given the history of their business model being licensing of important databases that are hard to switch off of, I've actually made a point to avoid using Oracle as much as possible (even so far as to leave MySQL when they acquired it,…

I have a cousin who owns a business that decided to contract with Oracle, and as he described this my first thought was “why tf would you ever sign an agreement with Oracle, don’t you know about them?”

But as he described the whole dealings (for some SEO product, I’m not sure of the specifics) it became clear to me they bamboozled him, gave him a bait and switch, and left him on the hook for a huge bill he never thought he’d have to pay.

So to answer your question I don’t think there is a value prop, I think it’s actually a giant grift.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#659

Post by randomNumber7 »

kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #36
codemog wrote: post #6

Don’t work for evil companies.

I tried to do this out of undergrad (graduated last year). Many companies do both good and bad things to me, some more good than bad. The "best of the best" companies to me require many years of experience and are still competitive. I didn't really want an entry level job at an "evil" company, so I'm going to go do a PhD (in something unrelated to my original interest in operating systems, as I don't want to be a 30k…

I honestly think is it bad for you to be that morally insistent against "evil" companies.

I also think it's not as easy as most people make it. It's not the poor and innocent people that are oppressed by all this evil companies. These companies are just a reflection of the people and the society we live in.

Re: Oracle slashes 30k jobs

#660

Post by simsla »

Aurornis wrote: post #508
ahtihn wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a European, this seems normal? When someone is fired, they generally stop working immediately while getting paid through the notice period.

I have to be honest that I'm confused by the comment, too. Including the edit about how being out of work would be traumatic, as if losing a job was unique to the United States.

Where I live, your employer basically has to give you notice (weeks to months, depending where you live). It's common for that notice period to turn into "garden leave" though, i.e. get paid but don't show up.

Mass layoffs, or RIFs, operate under slightly different rules, but I still saw a stark difference between US and EU employees when I went through one at a different corp.

US accounts were deactivated same day. EU employees were given until end of week to look over the proposed terms etc.

Post reply on HN