Oracle fired 30,000 people this morning.
Via a 6 AM email. No call. No manager. No warning.
The email said: "After careful consideration of Oracle's current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role."
System access shut off. DocuSign waiting.
The Detail That Sticks With Me
Oracle posted a 95% jump in net income last quarter. $6.13 billion in profit.
This wasn't a struggling company making hard choices. This was a thriving company reallocating capital.
The people who built that revenue were simply the most available source of funding for the next bet. So they went.
IBM. Amazon. Google. Atlassian. Now Oracle.
Record profits. Mass layoffs. Same quarter.
"The people who built the revenue were simply the most available source of funding for the next bet."
The Question Nobody Asks
I keep coming back to one thing I don't hear asked enough:
What exactly makes a salary safer than a portfolio of clients?
With a salary, one decision eliminates your income completely. With multiple clients, one client leaving is a revenue dip, not a catastrophe.
With a salary, your income ceiling is set by someone else's budget cycle. With clients, you negotiate each engagement on its own terms.
With a salary, a 6 AM email is all it takes.
Run the Math
I'm not saying fractional is for everyone. It's genuinely not.
But a lot of people assume corporate is the safer bet without ever running the numbers.
"Today might be a good day to run the math."
If you want a framework for running it, that's exactly what the weekly playbook is for: theretern.com/newsletter
The work is serious. The life doesn't have to be.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tee time to keep.
Kirk Coburn is the founder of The ReTern and category creator of the fractional executive movement. He introduced the term "Fractional CMO" to the market in 2009 when he co-founded Chief Outsiders, which has since served 2,000+ clients. When he's not helping corporate refugees build fractional practices, he's usually on the golf course by 2 PM.
