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Oracle Layoffs 2019: Staff Cuts Reinforce Talent ‘Rebalancing’ Trend

Oracle made targeted layoffs this week, though a formal headcount figure was not disclosed. The move comes as the technology giant doubles down on its Oracle Generate 2 strategy.

Among the areas that apparently had headcount cuts: the Oracle Management Cloud team; the original Oracle Cloud Infrastructure team; the Dyn team; and corporate marketing, according to unconfirmed chatter that surfaced on TheLayoff.com.

Oracle revenues were $9.6 billion in the recently announced Q3 fiscal 2019 results, down 1 percent compared to Q3 of fiscal 2018. The company's overall results beat Wall Street's expectations, But it's difficult to measure Oracle's overall transition from traditional software licenses toward cloud-driven subscription services. The reason: Oracle no longer discloses specific revenues for its IaaS, PaaS and SaaS business efforts.

Talent Rebalancing's True Meaning

Oracle's headcount cuts are part of a bigger enterprise IT trend -- the so-called 'talent rebalancing' from classic tech platforms toward cloud, security, artificial intelligence and other growth-oriented opportunities.

Oracle isn't alone in the 'rebalancing' practice. Key rival SAP recently confirmed plans to cut 4,000 positions -- even as the company ramps up overall company headcount. And IBM has quietly cut employees multiple times in recent quarters, though the company rarely makes formal announcements about such moves.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.