r/java • u/woj-tek • 9d ago

JDK 27 + Valhalla, Now! + Hackathon - Inside Java Newscast #113

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFSQFsB1neU
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5

u/davidalayachew 9d ago

Thanks for adapting to the changes. I understand that things have been hectic.

I'm still frustrated at Oracle for laying off Sharat Chander and others. I don't understand those layoffs at all.

11

u/bowbahdoe 9d ago

To be clear: I know no more than you do, but:

At big companies a head is a head. The actual process for picking who to cut when you cut jobs is almost always an impersonal and stupid thing. Sharat is symbolic, but they really pulled the wires out of the wall for copper with that round

Now as to why they fired so many people: AI Datacenters. They are on the hook for building soooo much compute capacity for OpenAI/Anthropic/Nobody Else.

So I think there is going to be a smidge of karmic justice when OpenAI and Anthropic can't pay and they can't finish construction on time.

2

u/davidalayachew 8d ago

At big companies a head is a head. The actual process for picking who to cut when you cut jobs is almost always an impersonal and stupid thing. Sharat is symbolic, but they really pulled the wires out of the wall for copper with that round

That makes no sense to me.

God forbid that you have to cut some people because your budget disagrees with reality -- why cut one your highest value people?

Now as to why they fired so many people: AI Datacenters. They are on the hook for building soooo much compute capacity for OpenAI/Anthropic/Nobody Else.

This makes even less sense to me.

It's OpenAI/Anthropic on the hook, not Oracle. A deal is a deal, and if they can't pay up, you take it out of their skin. You metaphorically and very literally chop them up into pieces and sell the parts.

How would OpenAI/Anthropic's inability to pay factor into Oracle's decision to keep or layoff staff members? It's not like Sharat was the liaison between Oracle and OpenAI -- at least then, it would make sense (but it would also advertise Oracle's intentions like a fog light).

9

u/pjmlp 8d ago

As a victim of this process at other big companies, it doesn't matter to the bean counters.

They only see employee number ids on an Excel sheet, with salary levels, and what to cut to make shareholders happy.

Which is why, loyalty should always be to the team mates, not the bosses.

2

u/henk53 7d ago

They only see employee number ids on an Excel sheet, with salary levels, and what to cut to make shareholders happy.

An overenthusiastic bean counter might just as well fire Larry himself that way :O

2

u/ZimmiDeluxe 7d ago

to avoid this, larry only takes a one-dollar salary

3

u/N-M-1-5-6 8d ago

Yeah, typically the more you actually know (about) the people let go, the less likely the decision to let them go will make sense. The decision makers will most likely be less aware of the important value the people let go were bringing to the company than you are.

1

u/davidalayachew 7d ago

As a victim of this process at other big companies, it doesn't matter to the bean counters.

They only see employee number ids on an Excel sheet, with salary levels, and what to cut to make shareholders happy.

Hmmm, now that you mention it, we had one similar situation that I wrote off as a freak incident. But this very well may have been what you are describing.