Brands
Oracle layoffs affect up to 30,000 employees globally
Job cuts span US, India and more, staff cite abrupt emails, uncertainty.
MUMBAI: April began with an inbox shock and for thousands, it ended with an exit. Oracle has carried out a sweeping round of layoffs, impacting an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 employees across its global operations, even as the company continues to report strong business performance. The job cuts were communicated via emails sent early on April 1, affecting staff across multiple regions including the United States, India, Canada and parts of Latin America. The reduction spans a wide range of roles and functions, though the company has not disclosed specific criteria behind the decisions.
In the days following the layoffs, employees have taken to platforms such as LinkedIn to share their experiences, many describing the process as abrupt and unsettling. Several posts pointed to a lack of prior indication, with notifications arriving suddenly in early-morning messages.
A recurring concern has been the impact on long-tenured staff. Users reported that employees with decades of experience were among those let go, raising broader questions about job security even for seasoned professionals within large technology firms.
The layoffs have also sparked anxiety about the wider direction of the sector. As companies continue to invest heavily in automation and artificial intelligence, workforce recalibration is becoming more common often accompanied by uncertainty around future roles and skills.
For many affected employees, the immediate challenge lies in navigating career transitions in an increasingly competitive job market, with posts reflecting concerns about stability and next steps.
The development comes against a backdrop of strong financial performance at Oracle, which recently reported a 22 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, alongside continued growth in its cloud infrastructure business. The company has also been committing significant capital towards artificial intelligence and data centre expansion.
The contrast between growth and job cuts has added to the unease, underscoring a broader shift in how large technology firms balance expansion with efficiency sometimes at the cost of the very workforce that helped build that growth.
Brands
HSBC names Gautam Anand to head global India private banking unit
The bank taps a 25-year veteran to run its franchise as the war for wealthy NRI clients heats up
MUMBAI: HSBC has handed Gautam Anand the keys to its global India private banking business, betting that a seasoned operator can squeeze more out of one of the world’s most lucrative pools of offshore wealth.
Anand, who joined HSBC Private Bank in December 2023 as global co-ordinator for Global India, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, steps up to lead the franchise outright. He will run the operation across India and its key international outposts in Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom, putting him squarely in the middle of the corridors through which Indian money flows abroad.
The appointment is a signal of intent. HSBC only launched its global private banking business in India in 2023, pitching hard at high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients as part of a broader assault on Asian wealth management. The bank now wants Anand to turn that beachhead into a fortress.
He comes well-armed. Before HSBC, Anand clocked time at UBS, Credit Suisse, ANZ and ABN Amro, a CV that reads like a roll-call of the banks that have long competed to manage the fortunes of India’s affluent diaspora.
With Indian wealth exploding at home and spreading fast across global financial centres, the race to capture it is only getting fiercer. HSBC is backing Anand to make sure it does not finish second.
