Job cuts loom at Oracle and Seagate

Thousands of workers at Oracle and Seagate are likely to lose their jobs

Oracle and Seagate are likely to cut around 9,000 staff between them in order to save costs in an increasingly gloomy economic environment.

Oracle has been cutting staff since Friday, according to trusted sources close to the firm, with reports indicating that the database firm's worldwide headcount will be reduced overall by around 10 per cent.

If the reports are true, roughly 8,000 employees will be cut from the company's 84,233 full-time staff, a figure given in May 2008 at the release of Oracle's last 10K statement.

Oracle has declined to confirm the layoffs, but an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners reportedly said that the company will make most of the cuts in sales and marketing, and that some back-office staff will go.

Frank Scavo, president of IT research and advisory firm Computer Economics, said in his Enterprise System Spectator blog that a number of Oracle employees had told him they were being axed.

Most of Scavo's sources were in agreement that the cuts would represent between 10 and 15 per cent of Oracle's total headcount, and some highlighted particular Oracle divisions including Sales, Technology Business Unit, Consulting, Alliance & Channels and Retail Global Business.

Additionally, a number of blog posts said to be from Oracle employees confirm the details at LayoffBlog.com, a site that lists corporate redundancies.

Meanwhile, other reports claim that Seagate, the world's largest hard disk drive manufacturer, is to cut 10 per cent of its 8,000 employees in the US as part of a restructuring programme.

Seagate could not confirm the cuts immediately, but has stated that chief executive Bill Watkins and chief operating officer David Wickersham have resigned.

Watkins has been replaced by board chairman Stephen Luczo, while Wickersham will be replaced by chief technology officer Robert Whitmore.

Seagate declined to provide an explanation as to the sudden change in management.

"Luczo and Watkins will confer over the next week to determine what role, if any, Watkins will have at the company going forward," said a Seagate statement.