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Oracle offered laid-off US employees four weeks' base salary plus one week per additional year of employment up to 26 weeks as severance, according to an excerpt of internal severance terms viewed by Business Insider.

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[-] bitchkat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

Also Oracle switched to so called "unlimited" PTO back in 2017. That means these people aren't getting any PTO paid out on top of the severance.

[-] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago

US labor laws are 3rd World and suck shit.

[-] SavageCoconut@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

Nope. Third world's are better… actually, third world countries are trying to emulate us labor laws to make the employees easier to fire.

[-] piwakawakas@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 hour ago

Thankfully the asshole trying to do that here is gone. I'm sure they'll find someone new to replace her soon though....

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 1 points 57 minutes ago

How is up to 30 weeks of pay bad? About most people would kill for this kind of payout.

[-] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 0 points 51 minutes ago

First of all very clearly says up to 26 weeks. So I don't know where you're getting 30 from. The fact that it's even shittier for other people doesn't make this not shitty though.

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 1 points 49 minutes ago

4 weeks base pay. Plus up to 26 weeks based off years of service. So a long term employee can get up to 30 weeks of pay. Hell 4 weeks alone is better the 90% of employers.

[-] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 0 points 32 minutes ago

I think that's a very generous reading, generosity I don't think is warranted by this company.

Again it doesn't matter if other workers have it worse, that's irrelevant.

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 1 points 29 minutes ago

Companies like this have always had layoffs and hirings. It's the eb and flow of business. We have had a great amount of these, but the AI cracks are showing, and a rehiring will happen.

[-] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 0 points 49 minutes ago

4 weeks base plus up to 26 additional weeks depending on how long they were employed, which was my reading as well.

[-] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 5 hours ago

One Rich Asshole Called Larry Ellison

[-] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 5 hours ago

The severance is usually packaged with a waiver that says you're not going to sue them for unlawful termination. they don't give you much time to think about it, so if you want to run it by a lawyer then you have to do it fast

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Years ago, I took a nearly identical package to a lawyer, who asked if they had been a bad employer, anything actionable, but they'd been great, I was going to miss it badly.

He said it was a pretty standard agreement, better than most get, so if there wasn't a chance that I would want to sue in the future, it was best to just accept it, and move on.

[-] MangoCats@feddit.it 7 points 3 hours ago

I suppose it depends on your State, but most I have worked in have "Employment at Will" which they make you sign on the way in - basically means: you can be "let go at any time, for no reason whatsoever."

The really crappy thing about Oracle doing this like this is that these people are hitting the market with 30,000 other freshly fired Oracle workers all looking for the same kinds of jobs at the same time - in a market where lots of other companies are doing the same.

[-] HamsterRage@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 hours ago

Interesting, that doesn't even meet the statutory requirements in Canada, which is 1 week severence+ 1 week in lieu of notice per year of employment. One top of that civil case law will generally add another 2 weeks per year of employment for employees who have been with a company for more than 5 years. There are other factors involved in this however. The whole thing generally tops out at about 20 months, too.

[-] MangoCats@feddit.it 4 points 3 hours ago

That 1 week in lieu of notice per year of employment must be "a thing" elsewhere, I've seen it many times.

By the way, as I read the summary above, Oracle did meet the statuatory requirement in Canada + 3 additional weeks of severance. Not that this is "good" of Oracle, they're undoubtedly doing the minimum they can get away with - duty to shareholders over employees and all that.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 13 points 11 hours ago

Last time I had to do this was a startup. We all worked insane hours trying to get the product off the ground but then

  • layoffs just short of a year so can save on severance
  • unemployment lower than my current mortgage
  • paid money to buy out my options in case the company made it, but a couple weeks later they reissued them to zero
[-] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I assume this is what happens when you exercise stock options and so it's better to just look at them and think that they're interesting and that's about it

[-] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 17 points 14 hours ago

What I find vaguely interesting is that the US hasn't managed to privatize unemployment insurance. I mean it could be made much more inefficient, line the pockets of the billionaires, and be of less use to laid off employees. Doesn't capitalism demand it be privatized?

[-] Rooskie91@discuss.online 6 points 9 hours ago

Payday loans already do this.

[-] Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

With an average annual percentage rate of 390% - 900% !

[-] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 4 points 13 hours ago

Fuck man. Don’t give Elon ideas. They billionaires have already been trying to pay military and TSA wages. We seriously don’t need to continue creeping down this FAFO pathway.

[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 2 points 11 hours ago

That's just a savings account isn't it?

[-] frunch@lemmy.world 34 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Imagine pouring your years and efforts into making this company the giant it became, and this is how they repay you. I have to imagine it's gonna be hard to find a new job at the same pay level etc, considering everyone is currently making big cuts to their workforce 🫠

"After careful consideration of Oracle's current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change," copies of layoff notification email viewed by Business Insider stated. "As a result, today is your last working day."

Oh, and one last thing:

Oracle declined to comment.

[-] cheers_queers@lemmy.zip 50 points 20 hours ago

more than i expected. sad, right?

[-] takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 14 hours ago

Per WARN Act aren't they required to provide 60 days to everyone?

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 5 points 13 hours ago

Just to the government.

[-] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 21 points 19 hours ago

Seeing some of the other companies they compared it to just makes them look even worse... it just means other companies will see this as a way to offer less as well. Gotta meet those industry standards!

Also if you take the severance doesn't that mean you forfit unemployment? This package is so bad if you only been there a year that i would probably say screw them and take that instead, even if its less than my pay it will definitely be more over the 6 months it's allowed which is what i thought was one of the main reasons they offer these so the company can avoid the higher rate of contribution to unemployment if enough people claim it.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 12 points 16 hours ago

No severance doesn't effect your eligibility for unemployment. It does often reduce the number of claims however. Many people live off the severance until in runs out, then claim employment. You can also claim unemployment while still actively receiving severance pay.

Severance is usually tied to a non-disclosure agreement. If they want to enforce them, compensation is usually required in most states.

[-] village604@adultswim.fan 3 points 10 hours ago

That's what I did when I was laid off last February due to Musk.

In some states you can actually work and still draw unemployment. I got a temp job to help fill the gap that unemployment left until I transitioned it into a permanent gig.

[-] rozodru@piefed.world 2 points 17 hours ago

yeah I'm not sure how it works in the US if you take the severance you forfeit unemployment but with the way the tech sector currently is I would be in favor of taking the unemployment instead because god damn is it rough out there.

Also not to knock Oracle employees but that place doesn't have the most glowing reputation for "quality". that right there might hinder their job search. Unless they go to Amazon. they'll just hire anyone with a pulse as long as you agree to working on call.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

You definitely take both. Apply for unenjoyment asap because it can take a few weeks for the money to start flowing. Also unenjoyment is much lower than pay, so you can’t expect to pay your bills with it

[-] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

You can take both. And for most tech sector workers, the unemployment payments are tiny compared thier salary. Also the unemployment payments don't last forever. For anyone with say 10 years at the company, the ttotal unemployment payout would be less than the severance.

[-] village604@adultswim.fan 1 points 10 hours ago

Yup, I went from making $8k a month to $2.4k on unemployment.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago
this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026
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