Oracle Refuses to Negotiate Severance with Laid-Off Workers

Oracle laid off an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 employees via email on March 31, 2026. Severance offered four weeks of pay for the first year plus one week per year of service, capped at 26 weeks, and one month of COBRA. Unvested RSUs were forfeited, even for retention grants. One long-tenured employee lost $1 million in stock four months from vesting. Remote workers in states without strong protections were deemed ineligible for WARN Act notice. A group of at least 90 employees signed a petition to negotiate better terms, citing packages from Meta (16 weeks base pay plus two weeks per year, 18 months COBRA), Microsoft (accelerated vesting, minimum eight weeks pay), and Cloudflare (pay through end of 2026, healthcare, accelerated vesting). Oracle declined to negotiate, offering a take-it-or-leave-it deal. The company declined to comment.