Recently, Oracle made headlines after it let go of around 30,000 employees via a rather abrupt email at 6 a.m. Following that, they announced a significant move by hiring Hilary Maxson as the new chief financial officer, who comes with a hefty $26 million stock package.
In the wake of these layoffs, some former employees have taken to LinkedIn and various workplace forums to express concerns about how Oracle selected those who would be laid off. One long-term employee speculated that the company might have focused on individuals with unpaid stock options.
On April 6, Oracle filed a Form 8-K with the SEC making Maxson’s position official, effective immediately. She previously worked as Executive Vice President and Group CFO at Schneider Electric, which boasts over $45 billion in annual revenue. Before that, Maxson spent 12 years at AES Corporation taking on senior finance and strategy roles.
According to SEC filings, her compensation includes a base salary of $950,000, along with a performance-based bonus of $2.5 million, prorated through Oracle’s fiscal year ending May 31. Oracle has also agreed to cover up to $250,000 in relocation costs over a year.
Maxson’s stock grant, valued at $26 million, is tied to Oracle’s revised 2020 Equity Incentive Plan. This grant is partly time-based, where 80% of the value vests over a four-year period, and there’s also a performance-based portion that vests based on revenue metrics until May 31, 2028.
In her new role, Maxson will report to CEO Clay Maguik, marking the return of a CFO at Oracle since Safra Katz combined the roles of CEO and principal financial officer in 2014. An analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence noted that hiring from an industrial background indicates Oracle is shifting its focus toward building infrastructure.
Under Oracle’s severance agreement, employees lost their unvested restricted stock units when terminated, although vested shares remain through Fidelity.
Nina Lewis, a security alert manager with over 30 years at Oracle, shared on LinkedIn her belief that the layoffs seemed to target highly skilled contributors and middle management, especially those with unvested stock options. This post gained significant traction, garnering over 2,000 likes.
In a follow-up, Lewis mentioned that while she doesn’t possess any insider knowledge about the so-called firing algorithm, the prevailing rumors among employees hinted at a potential pattern. To cut 30,000 people, one would think a method or system is necessary.
Other ex-employees on platforms like Blind and TheLayoff.com echoed similar sentiments, with some claiming they were let go just before their stock options vested. One senior manager at Oracle also stated publicly on LinkedIn that the layoffs did not reflect employee performance.
Oracle did not provide any comments when approached.
Despite reporting a 95% rise in net income last quarter, reaching $6.13 billion, the company has been heavily investing in AI, projecting $50 billion in capital spending for the year and assuming more than $100 billion in debt for construction efforts. Analysts estimate that the layoffs could result in an increase of $8 to $10 billion in cash flow. As of mid-April, Oracle’s stock trades around $138, which is a decline of about 58% from its all-time high of $325.76 in September 2025.
Interestingly, during this time, Oracle filed approximately 3,100 H-1B visa applications for the fiscal year 2025-2026. The H-1B program allows firms to temporarily hire foreign workers with specialized skill sets. Oracle has yet to comment on the visa applications.
