Oracle, the US cloud major, has laid off over 3,000 employees at Cerner, an electronic healthcare records firm, since its acquisition in June 2019 for $28.4bn, according to reports. The layoffs primarily affected employees at Cerner, with Oracle announcing that promotions and raises have been paused indefinitely amid a challenging economic climate. The cuts followed the company’s announcement earlier this year that workers should not expect promotions or raises until 2023. Despite the high number of layoffs, they constitute a relatively small percentage compared to the 28,000 employees brought in via Cerner’s acquisition. The layoffs are part of a broader trend of job cuts among major tech companies facing challenging macroeconomic conditions, with Amazon, Cognizant, Facebook parent Meta, and Google all announcing job cuts.
A former employee revealed that Oracle has made cuts to multiple teams, including marketing, engineering, accounting, legal, and product. While Oracle has not made a formal announcement regarding the layoffs, insiders have leaked information suggesting that many staff will lose their jobs. It remains to be seen whether Oracle will offer severance pay. The layoffs have created uncertainty among affected employees, who are questioning their future within the company. The situation has left many employees disillusioned, with concerns about career growth and financial stability.
The layoffs could lead to a loss of institutional knowledge, expertise, and valuable insights that employees bring to the table, with the morale of remaining employees suffering as they witness their colleagues being let go. This situation has raised questions about the future of healthcare technology, with some industry experts questioning whether Oracle will maintain the same level of innovation and quality in its health IT offerings.
Despite the layoffs, Oracle is continuing to develop a national health records database. Individual information will remain anonymous until consent is given, according to Oracle’s Chairman and CTO, Larry Ellison. Oracle is also working on its patient engagement system to gather information from wearables and home diagnostic devices.
Moreover, the company has combined its healthcare and AI operations into a single unit called Oracle Health and AI, overseen by Elad Ziklik after Jillian Johnson left the healthcare division last January. The company intends to create a cloud-based health data system for providers and public-health officials to access patient data across organizations.
The plan is already undergoing testing, with Oracle Health responsible for a multi-billion-dollar contract to overhaul the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ information systems. However, delays in the 2020 rollout, due to issues at five sites that were already using the system, have raised concerns. It is crucial for organizations to prioritize employee well-being, invest in innovation, and rebuild trust with both employees and clients to deliver high-quality healthcare technology solutions.
In India, Amazon has terminated 500 employees in the past few weeks, and CEO Andy Jassy recently stated that 9,000 more employees would lose their jobs. This follows a decline in income growth for Amazon. In total, Amazon has laid off 27,000 workers, with more layoffs set to follow. Impacted employees will receive full salary and benefits for up to 90 days and a larger severance payment, as well as outplacement support to aid them in finding new positions outside of the company.
The layoffs at Oracle and Amazon demonstrate the challenges facing both companies, which must balance financial considerations with employee well-being and maintain innovation as they operate in an uncertain economic climate. As technology companies continue to drive the healthcare industry forward, it remains to be seen how their actions will impact the future of healthcare technology.
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