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Oracle to sack half of Sun? Ridiculous, says Sun

Sun issues an all-hands memo to vehemently deny a report from market researcher UBS that Oracle may lay off half of Sun's workforce post-acquisition.

John Paczkowski

Oracle's expected $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems will undoubtedly be followed by at least a few layoffs, but as much as half of the company's workforce?

Not a chance, says Sun, which issued an all-hands memo reassuring employees that a recent report from research outfit UBS that suggests Oracle might sack 13,800 when the deal finally closes is off the mark--and way off the mark.

"You may have seen an article published by Bloomberg, subsequently picked up by other media, that references a UBS analyst report speculating that Oracle could cut up to 50% of the Sun workforce," the memo reads. "Oracle has asked me to assure Sun employees that this report is absolutely untrue."

Changing course, the memo strikes at the source of the story. "It is regrettable that an analyst can be so irresponsible without any facts. Oracle is acquiring Sun to do something it cannot do alone-deliver complete, integrated systems. Oracle will need to rely heavily on the talents of Sun employees to achieve this vision. Please dismiss these reports as they are not based on any information that Oracle has provided."