BOSTON, 18 DECEMBER 2009 - Oracle's workforce fell by 1,273 during the second quarter of its 2010 fiscal year, according to an earnings report released Thursday.
The company's global headcount stood at 83,366 at the end of its second quarter, down from 84,639 in the previous quarter. The majority of the cuts came in Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas. Oracle's fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30.
Oracle reported having 86,657 workers in the second quarter of its 2009 fiscal year.
It was not clear how much of the most recent reduction is force was due to layoffs, versus attrition. An Oracle spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
Like its rival IBM, Oracle is especially secretive when it moves to job cuts, rarely providing specifics to the public.
Meanwhile, a number of the positions lost at Oracle in the quarter affected consulting services, according to a large number of comments posted to LayoffBlog.com beginning in mid-November.
One poster claiming to have been laid off from Oracle was shocked at his predicament.
"Today is my last day," user "Trailmaster" posted on Nov. 13. "11 years with PeopleSoft Oracle and I was on a billable project till April. Go figure!"
But others expressed relief.
"Today early morning when I got a call from my manager that I had been laid off .... I wasn't sure whether to be sad that I didn't have another job or be happy that I'm free from this rat race!" one unnamed person said.
Software consulting jobs on the whole have suffered during the recession, as companies postpone or cancel new software implementation projects. Oracle's consulting revenue fell 18 percent in its second quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the earnings release.
But overall, Oracle had a strong quarter, reporting earnings of US$0.29 per share, an increase of 15 per cent over the same period last year. Total revenue jumped 4 per cent to $5.9 billion.
