Having to watch the company that was once at the very top continue to slide towards the very bottom - mostly due to bad decisions made by the current leadership - is giving me no satisfaction. I used to be proud to say I work for Oracle. Now I barely mention it. And that makes me sad, not gleeful like so many others.
So much wasted potential ruined by unadulterated greed...
I was RIF'd in 2017 after worked at O for 17 years with little or no raise and a very tiny bonus every year (less than 4%). Look back, I shouldn't stay at O that long. After two hops, my total compensation is now more than double what I made at O. I couldn't be happier. I should have left 10 years ago.
You should too.
The only people ORCL cares less about than its customers are its employees.
Current Oracle employee. My GBU has had layoffs here and there. I’ve always kept my resume updated and my LinkedIn connections. With that being said, layoffs are definitely a huge part of oracle but like someone said, “look for a job while you have a job.” I got a good raise (10%) year after I got into my current role 4 years ago. I know I could still be cut at any time. I am grateful for all of your candid feedback. I really appreciate it.
I was in one of the layoff classes of 2017.
Over the 15+ years I worked for O, layoffs were pretty much an annual or semi-annual thing. (They tend to do layoffs more than you'd think. They frequently do them in small enough numbers so that they don't have to report them.) I wanted to look for another position in the company because in my division they hadn't hired any U.S. based employees for years, they were shifting new positions and projects offshore, and no US-based employees in my division (other than managers) were getting promotions, raises, or bonuses. Over the years my immediate team had gone from 25+ US-based employees, down to 3 US-based employees and 5 offshore employees. And for several years managers had started openly talking to direct reports about how severance packages are calculated. So there was no secret that layoffs would be ongoing, and they wanted people to prepare for the possibility. (Also note that they tax severance payments upfront, and I believe I netted about 65% of the total dollar amount.)
I had to get my manager's approval to look for other positions w/in the company, and got his blessing in April or May. (I looked until my last day, but there was a hiring freeze in effect during this time.) Unfortunately, my manager told his manager that I was looking for another position in the company. I think that moved me up the list for layoffs, since management knew I was looking for a new job. I was happy in my current job, but I wanted to go to a division that was growing and was actively hiring. Also, I knew that many years ago, if O was downsizing a division they would find you a job in another division. Then they started giving people 6 months notice to find another job within the company on their own, or they were out. And now you're just out - they don't help you find another job, nor do they give you any time to find another job for yourself within the company.
The day my manager gave me my annual performance review, I was told I was being laid off, despite having a glowing review. He gave me a month's advanced notice, even though he wasn't supposed to. So I believe another poster was right, in that managers sit down around focal time and decide who's going to be laid off in the next round. Back in 2017, managers were not supposed to give people any notice, and just one day you were to be told it was your last day.
Looking back I made some big mistakes. I stayed with O even though I wasn't getting promotions or salary increases. At one point I put my current salary in an inflation calculator to find that I was actually making less money than when I was hired!! I stayed because I was allowed to work remotely 95% of the time, I liked the work, I liked my colleagues, and I knew my job and felt I was good at it. But when I had to find a new job, I think some potential employers saw me as an unmotivated desk jockey, who stayed in the same job, doing the same thing for 15 years until I was laid off/fired. I don't think being laid off hurt me as much in the eyes of recruiters/hiring managers, as did my staying in the same job with the same company for so long.
My advice for people still employed at O - if you want to find another job, look outside of O so as not to appear you're unhappy in your current position and possibly accelerate a layoff. If possible, look while you're still working - it's easier to find a job when you have a job, I wouldn't talk to any of your colleagues about looking for another position, because you don't want it to get back to your manager or their manager.
My advice to former O employees laid off- Even though I had advanced notice, when my last day came, it hit me hard. I can only guess how people feel when it comes from out of the blue. Know that you're not alone.
My advice to all - Don't stay at O (or any other company) more than 5 years unless you have something to show for it, like promotions, salary increases, etc. If you have been in the same position forever at the same company, be prepared to talk about why you stayed. I learned too late that loyalty to a company and a job are no longer valued. You need to job hop every 4-5 years to get promotions and salary increases.
Having to watch the company that was once at the very top continue to slide towards the very bottom - mostly due to bad decisions made by the current leadership - is giving me no satisfaction. I used to be proud to say I work for Oracle. Now I barely mention it. And that makes me sad, not gleeful like so many others.
You need to upgrade your skill set and move on - preferably some other tech leader where you can feel good about your career again. Whining on this board is unconstructive - pathetic even. The “missing the good old days at Oracle” isn’t a good look.
Sinking ship, just waiting for LE to croak then then to the VPs go the spoils. The whole strategy is simple. Oracle does what none others do, Vendor Lock is the strategy. As long as that works Oracle works.
“I used to be proud to say I work for Oracle. Now I barely mention it. And that makes me sad, not gleeful like so many others.”
I worked at Oracle for a decade (due to an acquisition), and was treated well, but was never proud of the fact that I worked for LE - though financially successfully I don’t uphold the guy as someone I aspire to be like.
Throughout my tech career I have seen many leading companies drop into decline. Oracle is not special in that regard. Often it seems as if arrogance percolates through the ranks, and employees from the top all the down believe they are smarter and more capable than they really are. This was absolutely the case at Oracle.
If I had to put my finger on the one thing most responsible for the decline I would say it was LE’s blurring the lines between product “vision” and actual capabilities. Like most organizations, the company takes on the personality of the leadership, and at Oracle it was next to impossible to get a straight, honest answer from any product team about what worked and what didn’t - sales teams were supposed to somehow magically discern what was real and what wasn’t. Often landlines ended up being stepped on after the fact - to customers’ and Oracle’s long term detriment.
I don’t share the OP’s sentiment at all, and Oracle is getting exactly what it deserves, IMO. After all, it is just business, and a company that once rode high against less competition and charged premium $$ because they could, failed to stay competitive and relevant as markets shifted. Oracle has always been the same company under LE - it’s just that the warts were easy enough to hide until the market matured and toughened up.
There are more layoffs coming at the end of July, and please don't act surprised as if it's shocking. It's in the works, and yes, there will be waves of such layoffs in the coming months.
More layoffs are coming quarterly rest of FY21 and 22. Close to 50,000 worldwide. Don't wait until the last minute. The longer you wait, the harder and longer the job search will be.
Bringing on the tennis partner who buried 3 companies before Oracle, and firing KB over a stupid tweet about hardware has not aged well. K–ling off EBS, when 6 years on the Cloud Apps can’t do halt the heavy lifting also seems like a big mistake. Who pays? Not the imported hires. Not the executives. The people who made you successful. Sad...
I am now hearing a 10% company wide pay cut.
No need to worry on this. It’s only director level and below - no big deal.
Constant management decisions at high levels that made no sense when they trickled down to us. My immediate managers were great, but treated very poorly. None of us were paid the average for our field, and there were no pay rises or bonuses. We were there because we had a great team.
I am now hearing a 10% company wide pay cut.
The best days I had was before Sun acquisition. It went downwards from there with increased in fighting, followed by splitting into 3 internal groups....
Lay-off is still ongoing this week almost silently outside of USA.
Morale is at rock bottom.
Sad but True. Downward slide started in 2015, when key engineers started jumping ship.
When the best of the best jump, and they were well compensated and well thought of....
I’m a bit in that boat myself. I’ve been at Oracle less than 10 years. Up until 2 years ago it was a good ride. People would ask where I worked, I’d say Oracle and be pleased at their “I’m impressed” head nod. But things started changing and not for the better. Now when people give me that head nod I shake my head with a smirk. I’m currently looking to get off this sinking ship now. It’ll be bittersweet when I do go. So much potential lost by garbage management at all levels.