Unfortunately, we are having a problem in contacting anyone this morning because of this axing of Peoplesoft employees -- Somehow, someone forgot about the customers that still need support during this time -

I agree with the comment besides the core DB...Oracle systems stink. ERP market is mostly all the big players already have one(SAP) and aren't switching. Little players want something cheap that works...read this as MS. Let's see Oracle is expensive, stinks at most things and now has shown they are dirty players..hmmm sure they will be selling lot's of nothing. The layoffs have just begun and this Barbarian takeover shows that. SQLServer(P.S. every new software product I see now does SQLServer 1st and maybe Oracle not as well), and MySQL in 5 to 10 kick them to Niche high-end. Good luck Oracle.

Just a thought - are any of you guys who are not upset about these job losses - paying a mortgage, a new car, braces for the 13-year old, thinking of taking the spouse on a vacation or just wanting that new iPOD ? And of course your a college grad, say about 45 years old, college degree in Computer Science and 15 years on the job experience. Sure you can get a new job. DOING WHAT ???

What did you expected? I am amazed at the bunch of cry-babys that complain about a situation like this one. Oracle a bad guy? What do you have to say about Microsoft anti-competition practices? What do you have to say about Sun axing their own by hundreds (not due to a take-over, but nad strategy)? I mean, please, what did you expected? What Oracle did might not be of our "taste" but it is a reality that is taking place in the industry. All of us can be casualties of mergers like this one. Don't like it? Move to another field, or maybe consider opening your own business. Who knows you might get lucky and Billy "Bad Boy" Gates, or mr Ellison himself buys your company and you can make a lot of $$$$, isn't that the "American Dream" (make a lot of money fast)?

Just a comment.

BTW, to JDJ ... the tone of your article is the one I will expect to find in a cheap tabloid.

I agree whole heartily that we must not condone business practices that take advantage of people in China where communism and corruption are the norm, but I don't blame any business for utilizating cheap labor in places like India. (I work for a company that outsources alot of technical work to India and hires H1 visas in the USA.) In response to James Verry: Why are we americans entitled to a job or a standard of living any more than any other human on the planet? You're already lucky enough to born in this free country -- I know by your comments you aren't an immigrant. You should be thankful for that!

Larry Ellison is free to run *his* business however *he* feels in order to generate a profit -- the sole reason anybody has a business -- so long as he stays within the laws set forth in this country. He has not violated any laws and, in my opinion, monopolies and anti-trust laws shouldn't apply to businesses where the products / services are not part of the basic human needs. (Since when will you die if you can't use your your computer?) So what if Bill Gates installs IE on every machine he installs his OS on and IBM OS2 Warp and Netscape can't compete? Because of MS and its market share, everybody and their brother has a computer in their home. Keep in mind these are computers and components that had to be built by somebody. These are jobs that would never have been created had Big Blue been successful at lobbying the US Gov't to fight their battles for them. Think about how ma bell and long distance companies such as AT&T and Sprint gouched us on long-distance phone service and look how long it took the technology to spread around the world. (And yes this gouching still took places after the Fed Gov't stepped in and "broke up" the company into the baby bells.) The internet and other little guys came along and dropped the price of long distance to a point where everybody could use it and now we have more technology that we would ever have had -- technology that allows me to work at home remote from the big city and not have to deal with traffic and other stresses where all the jobs were previously located. And technology that allows me to take my laptop anywhere in the USA and Europe and nobody knows I am not at my desk (thanks to vonage, high speed internet,wireless, cell phones, computer manufactures, etc). I spend more time with my kids and my kids get to spend more time with their grandparents because of this technology. What better quality of life is there?

Aren't AOL and MSN dominance of the dial-up ISPs a threat to affordable internet service? No. The question is "how long can they milk that cow before they have lost their market share of their "niche" business. Guys like Larry Ellison, Bill Gate, C. Michael Armstrong, Lee Iacoca(sp?) recognize that being in a niche business only lasts for so long and you end up like DEC, Compaq, Silicon Graphics, GTE, and now, Peoplesoft, unless you have your eggs in more than one basket.

So what if Larry Ellison and Oracle dominate the Business Enterprise S/W market. 1 of 2 things will come about: This will be an incentive for somebody to come along and develop a cheaper product (MySQL?) or everybody will have Oracle business enterprise s/w running their business leaving them to focus on the products or services they provide. How many businesses sprang up thanks to having MS s/w on affordable powerful PCs, leaving them to focus on their invention?

My point is this: Its called Free Enterprise and it is the only system that works. It works because of the human need to do and create things to stand out above the rest of the human race. Because of socialism, the people in China have no incentive to produce anything as they won't stand out above the rest because the guy that does nothing gets the same amount of food as the guy who busts his back. What would you do under similar circumstances? Do we want this same thing in the USA? Should the guy who dropped out of school and now works in the factory along side his father be guaranteed a salary the same as the doctor who went on to school for another 8 to 10 years to learn how to save lives? Its called entitlement and it goes against capitalism and free enterprise. The only people on this planet entitled to anything are the sr citizens that are unable to work, the terminally ill, and those with disabilities -- true disabilities, not those with hang nails, bad hair days, alcoholism, or laziness. In fact most people with true disabilities don't want handouts or entitlements anyway and most sr citizens that can still work, still do -- whether it is volunteering, running their business, or taking care of a loved one. I say shame on you if you didn't put something aside for your retirement. Shame on you if you thought you are entitled to "social" security. Social security should be revamped to take care those truly unable to contribute to society. My grandfather was an immigrant who left Germany at at age 16 on a boat to a better world in the US in 1926, never to see his parents and siblings ever again. He worked as a machinist designing, fabricating, and then welding automation equipment for the steel mills in Gary, Indiana until he was in his upper 60's and only retired to take care of my grandmother who had rumitoid (sp?)) arthritus. (I'm sure that his engenuity cost tons of manual labor jobs in that industry, as well as, others, but can you imagine what the cost of goods and services would be if businesses weren't automated today?) He never asked for a handout and he is 94 yrs old living on his savings -- his pension and other investments that most german immigrants knew would be needed -- and until recent years, was as active as most 60 yr olds. He still manages to plant a garden, cook his own meals, manage his own finances and keep his living quarters neat and clean. We all recognize he is blessed to still have the mental and physical capacity to do all this at his age and most are not. And those are the ones who should be taken care by social security.

Well enough of my ranting. Best wishes to those who lost their jobs. Hopefully this is an incentive for you to take advantage of the free enterprise system and create jobs for yourself and others. Don't try to make a profit though! ;-)

I think Oracle´s agressive pricing over a almost monopolized database market will just kill their dominance.
Just keep an eye on MySQL... As far as I can see, it´s just time to a good open source ERP shows up too.

I do not understand the first poster here. What is his point with this statement:

"Quit bashing Larry Ellison for employing the 50K+ employees he employees around the world and focus on the companies that take advantage of the people in countries without Labor laws such as China".

This seems to be a statement from an uninformed individual. So now, I shall endeavor to educate:

[visit link]

King Larry's new clothes are nothing but more of the same. No matter how one kow-tows to him, the facts are that he is exporting jobs to China, as so many other multinationals are. Indeed, let us focus on the companies that take advantage of the people in countries without Labor laws such as China - companies such as Oracle!

If we, the people, do not act to stop the vicious circle of profiteering at the expense of America's standard of living, the future will be one of regressiveness. The US will make more strides towards being a third-world country than towards maintaining a position of global leadership.

And what can we do? Do any of us own stocks? Is the courage within us to take a stand at the annual stockholders' meetings and demand one of two things? Demand a reversal of the job losses, or demand that the entire board of directors be replaced with business-savvy Indians and Chinese (they can run the company remotely from their respective countries!). No corporate officers are to be paid more than $40K... and I'll assure you there are plenty of candidates who would be interested. If we are to maximize the value of our stock holdings, these overpaid tyrants must be dismissed!

Hostile takeovers should be illegal. Mass laidoffs should not be allowed. Outsourceing to foreign countries should also be illegal. All of these things hurt the American economic in the long run. Good paying are disappearing, this in turn will reduce the spending power of the American public, causing further reduction in the manufacturing sector.

As for mass laid-offs, companies that do this, should pay the laid-offed employee for 3 to 5 years at 85% of their pay plus benefits. Add to this retraining, relocation, and job placement should be paid for by the company who laid off the employee.

Although I wish Larry Ellison was as generous as Bill Gates, I harbor no ill-will for him. I agree with the "anti-socialist"! Free enterprise is the best system out there.

entitlement / job protectionism / communism is whats killing this country... free enterprise and capitalism means we all are free to start a business, and, as long as we obey the laws, operate it to turn a profit. There is no law that says you can't buy out your competition... there is no law that says you must hire employees.... there is no law that say you must pay your employee a certain wage.... there is no law that says you must share your wealth... there is no law that says you have to treat your customers a certain way... there is no law that says you have to be fair...however, most of the points above are good business practice

I am not a rich person nor a business owner -- I work for somebody else like 98% of the American population. If my company lays me off, I thank them for the time and paythey gave me to do the tasks they assigned since I agreed to those terms when they hired me. If they treat me unfairly, I have to decide to move on or put up with it. If they violate labor laws, then I use the legal system. A company that treats customers and employees unfairly will not be in business very long. A company that violates the laws (WCOM, Enron, Martha Stewart Living, Tyco, Adelphia, etc) will eventually suffer the consequences. As far as I can tell, Oracle hasn't violated any laws and the peoplesoft shareholders and founders aren't complaining about the wealth that Larry Ellison shared with them at the cost of his own employees. Oracle shareholders appear to be benefiting from this business move as well.

Quit bashing Larry Ellison for employing the 50K+ employees he employees around the world and focus on the companies that take advantage of the people in countries without Labor laws such as China -- one of the few remaining countries to realize that socialism doesn't work.

The bloodshed is not limited to Peoplesoft. I'm within firing range of the Oracle cylinders (aka, Redwood Shores, site of Lake Larry), and I'm getting splattered by blood. Many long-time, smart, loyal Oracle employees have just been given their walking papers, too. Larry Ellison and his high-ranking "execut[e-]ives" are the most vulgar of the new vulgarians, slaves to their acquisition of material wealth at any cost: These guys don't want to build a company; they just want to feed off the carcass. Oh, and by the way--most of the products beyond the core Oracle database absolutely stink. I can see the gnats swarming over there now...

"Pink slips" - ugh that's very impersonal. Very efficient but pretty cold, wouldn't you say? Evil Emperor Ellison hasn't lost his touch.

according to IDC recent announcements by Oracle that there are "other acquisitions" the company could make (in addition to PeopleSoft) may prove strategically wiser than previously thought...

according to IDC recent announcements by Oracle that there are "other acquisitions" the company could make (in addition to PeopleSoft) may prove strategically wiser than previously thought...

I have friends that are consultants. They seem to have the feeling that the majority of consultants will not get the axe. Any thoughts about that? I'm talking about the Calif. based.