Oracle to axe hundreds of staff

Oracle moves to lay off up to 1,700 staff, according to some reports, as it reduces its Santa Clara hardware systems division

Oracle is set to lay off 450 staff from its Santa Clara hardware systems division, with further reported layoffs elsewhere bringing the total tally up to an unofficial number of 1,800.

The redundancies are part of the firm's shift away from traditional hardware and software and into cloud. The firm's software licensing revenue fell by 20 per cent in its last quarter, with its hardware revenue dropping 13 per cent.

By contrast, Oracle's software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service revenue increased 68 per cent year on year.

"The Santa Clara facility is not closing as part of this reduction in force," Oracle wrote in a letter sent to the US Employment Development Department. "Rather, Oracle is refocusing its Hardware Systems business, and for that reason, has decided to lay off certain of its employees in the Hardware Systems Division."

However, anonymous postings on thelayoff.com, a website where employees write about being made redundant, suggest that hundreds more are also being axed in Burlington, as the SPARC hardware development team has also allegedly been served its notice.

One post estimates the total number of Oracle redundancies globally at 1,800, whilst another attempts to break the figure down further, suggesting 200 staff will be let go in Burlington, 100 in San Diego, 25 in Austin, 100 in India, 200 in China, 50 in Spain and 100 in Oslo.

US-based The Mercury News reported that a handful of managers, technicians and administrative assistants are also being made redundant, in top of hardware and software developers.

According to the letter sent to the Employment Development Department, those who were laid off are to receive full pay and benefits for 60 days.