Oracle Staff ‘Angered’ By Job Cuts: Report

Oracle employees have reportedly been angered at the handling of a layoff that will see Western European jobs cut in favour of cheaper hires in Romania, after the company’s European Works Council (EWC) wrote an opinion critical of the move.

While the cut is relatively small, affecting only 60 employees in Oracle’s European Global Software Support unit in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Spain, it is seen by staff as the beginning of a wider process that is being conducted in a secretive manner, according to a report by business journal Business Insider.

Cheaper staff

Oracle’s EWC, a body set up under European law in order to facilitate labour discussions with management, produced an internal opinion warning that Oracle’s cuts are targeting experienced employees with relatively high salaries, who will be replaced by more than 60 junior staff in Romania, according to the report.

The 60-person layoff is the first phase of a wider round of cuts, according to the EWC, which reportedly discussed the matter with the leaders of the Global Software Support group.

Oracle management hasn’t discussed the cuts with staff and hasn’t told affected staff when their last day will be, according to the report, which cited an unnamed employee who is still with the company as saying that the company’s handling of the matter had “angered a lot of people”, including US staff.

Labour conflict

Oracle, which has about 125,000 employees worldwide, is planning to allow staff to apply for other positions within the company, according to the EWC opinion seen by Business Insider.

Oracle declined to offer a comment on the issue.

EWCs are required for all companies with 1,000 or more employees and at least 150 employees in two or more EU member states under a 1994 law.

HP’s EWC sued the company in 2012 over its massive redundancy programme, which saw the redundancies of around 29,000 staff globally, including more than 7,000 in Europe.

Oracle’s former chief executive, Larry Ellison, stepped down in September after 37 years running the company.

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