Oracle Plans Huge Layoffs at China R&D Hubs
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  May 08 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Oracle Plans Huge Layoffs at China R&D Hubs Oracle Plans Huge Layoffs at China R&D Hubs

(Yicai Global) May 7 -- US software giant Oracle has decided to lay off about 500 people in a first round of redundancies slated for its research and development centers in China.

The initial departures will affect staff in Beijing, with each getting an extra six months' salary as severance, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, which cited a number of employees. Oracle held a meeting today to finalize the plan and layoffs will follow in other cities, the report added.

Payroll downsizing is part of changes Oracle is making to its global R&D operations, including at its California headquarters, with the aim of enhancing the firm's R&D teams and coping with a rapidly changing business environment, it is reported to have said at the meeting.

Media reports at the end of March said Oracle planned to close its China R&D centers, involving about 1,600 people. The phased redundancies were said to start this month. The layoffs have now been confirmed, but there is no information publicly available on how many staff Oracle employs at its hubs in Beijing and Shenzhen.

Oracle also said it will offer career advisory services to those who leave the company, helping them to make the transition. But some employees facing the ax are not satisfied with the compensation plan, while others are unhappy with the departure timing. Some said a 20-day job search window was not enough.

Oracle entered China in 1989 and set up its first R&D center here in the southern city of Shenzhen in 2002. It handles technology development, product certification, localization and technical support. The second center opened in Beijing in 2003.

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Keywords:   Oracle,R&D,layoff