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.