If you’re wondering, “How many people did Oracle lay off?” — it’s reported to be somewhere around 10,000. Because Oracle has been vague in its public statements, it’s hard to know exactly what led to the Oracle lay off. In fact, according to a report by TheRegister.com, an Oracle spokesperson said the company could not comment on the reported job losses and went on to say that they are still developing the platform. In case you need a little back story, Oracle bought tech company ATG in 2010. As a result, they acquired ATG’s e-commerce engine and subsequently dubbed it Oracle Commerce. The platform was successful at the time, boasting many large retailers like Burberry. According to reporting by TheRegister.com, Oracle released the Oracle Commerce Cloud in 2015, but business began to fade after the company neglected to re-engineer the architecture from the ground up. Essentially, ATG was not originally built for the cloud, and the Oracle Commerce Cloud had a workaround in place while still being connected to its original engine API. While I can only speculate at this point, I have made some observations about the Oracle layoff based on various news reports. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems Oracle engaged in years of complacency when it came to implementing significant improvements or feature upgrades to the Oracle Commerce Cloud. With the platform lagging behind other robust eCommerce options, the outdated infrastructure could have led to a bad customer experience and churned business. Additionally, I see it as a big red flag that a tech giant like Oracle would dodge accountability for the layoff or fail to provide any explanation for it. In fact, rather than addressing the Oracle layoff, a spokesperson pointed out that the Oracle Commerce Cloud was named in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce in 2019. But why is Oracle alluding to the past rather than addressing the present situation and the future? Their response is nothing short of terrible public relations. TheRegister.com also reported that many laid-off workers admitted that they saw “the writing on the wall” leading up to the Oracle layoff and had begun to lose faith in the platform’s future (even seeking alternative employment). If Oracle’s behavior regarding this matter is any indication of how they treat their customers, would you really want to be one?