Oracle Laid-off Workers Tried to Negotiate Better Severance; Oracle Said No
As was widely reported, Oracle axed an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people via email on March 31. One of the employees cut that day told TechCrunch about the experience: “I had, like, this weird feeling in my stomach. I went to go sign into the VPN, and the VPN was like, ‘this user doesn’t exist anymore.’ Then I called my friend, and I was like, ‘Hey, can you see me in Slack?’ And she said, ‘No, your account’s been deactivated.’”
What It Means for Makers and Artists: Negotiating Better Terms During Layoffs
- The laid-off Oracle employees found themselves facing standard corporate severance terms. In exchange for signing a release waiving their right to sue, they received four weeks of pay for the first year, plus one additional week per year of service, capped at 26 weeks.
- However, crucial aspects like stock compensation were not accelerated; any shares that hadn’t vested by the termination date were forfeited. For instance, a long-tenured employee lost $1 million in stock that was just four months from vesting, as it made up about 70% of his compensation.
- Furthermore, if employees were classified as remote workers and didn’t work in states with stronger worker protections like California or New York, they weren’t eligible for WARN Act protections, which typically require companies to give two months’ notice prior to layoffs affecting 50 or more people at a single location.
- Some employees discovered that by classifying themselves as remote workers, the minimum requirements for triggering WARN Act protections could be bypassed. Even if they were covered by the WARN Act, this did not necessarily extend severance benefits.
Despite these terms, some laid-off Oracle employees attempted to negotiate with the company en masse through a public petition, urging Oracle to match the more generous severance packages offered by other large tech companies during mass layoffs. For instance:
“Meta’s severance package started at 16 weeks of base pay, plus two weeks for every year of employment and covered COBRA for 18 months.”
“Microsoft provided accelerated stock vesting, a minimum of eight weeks’ pay, and an additional one to two weeks for every six months of service, depending on rank.”
“Cloudflare offered lump sum severance that was the equivalent of base pay through the end of 2026, plus healthcare coverage through the end of the year, and accelerated vesting of stock through August 15.”
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Oracle declined to negotiate on these terms, according to an email seen by TechCrunch. The company took a hard stance, viewing it as a take-it-or-leave scenario for laid-off employees.
Key Takeaways
- Tech workers often enjoy high pay and perks when the market is in their favor, but layoffs can expose them to few protections if they’re not.
- Oracle’s stance underscores that tech companies’ severance terms are often dictated by market conditions rather than employee rights or protections.
- The failed attempt by laid-off Oracle employees to negotiate better terms highlights the need for clearer and more robust protection mechanisms during layoffs, especially in a high-tech industry where job security can be tenuous.
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