Oracle lays off 100s in Cerner health unit

San Francisco Cloud major Oracle has laid off hundreds of employees and rescinded job offers in its $28 billion Cerner health unit, the media reported on Friday.

According to a report in Insider, citing sources, the company has also cut back open positions within its health unit “after troubles with a massive government contract”. Oracle was yet to comment on the report. The news about layoffs at Lerner surfaced last month. Oracle had acquired healthcare records firm Cerner for $28.4 billion.

According to Insider, Oracle paused raises and promotions and “laid off thousands of employees in the unit” as recently as May after the acquisition closed in June last year. The Cerner acquisition had brought in about 28,000 employees. Oracle has “not issued raises or granted promotions, and, earlier this year, announced that workers shouldn’t expect any through 2023”.

Layoffs “affected workers across teams, including marketing, engineering, accounting, legal, and product”, said the report, citing a former employee. The Cloud major is developing a national health records database.

According to Oracle’s Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, the patient data would be anonymous until individuals give consent to share their information. Ellison has assured that Oracle’s database will anonymise all patient data.

Cerner is a leading provider of digital information systems used within hospitals and health systems to enable medical professionals to deliver better healthcare to individual patients and communities. Oracle’s new health records database will also involve the patient engagement system the company has been developing throughout the pandemic.