‘At ₹1 crore, options drop fast’: Oracle layoffs trigger viral debate on high-paying jobs

Last week, employees working at tech giant Oracle got the shock of their lives when they received a five-line email at 6 am. Just, "Today is your last working day." No HR call. No personal conversation with the manager. Within hours, 12,000 people in India lost jobs that many had spent years obtaining, even decades building.

The massive layoffs at Oracle not only exposed the choppy waters that the IT industry is navigating at present but also laid bare the one mistake that youngsters are making in the job market. 

DON'T MISS | Oracle layoffs: What laid-off Indian H-1B visa holders need to do immediately to stay legally in US

A social media user named Abhishek Singh wrote on X, "The Oracle layoffs are a reminder that one hidden problem with switching jobs too aggressively for higher and higher roles is this: You keep moving up in title and salary, but you also quietly move yourself into a smaller and smaller market." 

But how does that happen? "At 12 LPA, 20 LPA, 30 LPA, there are many openings. At 60 LPA, 80 LPA, 1 crore plus, suddenly the number of companies that can afford you drops very fast." 

Singh added that higher packages coupled with layoffs is a recipe for disaster. 

DON'T MISS | BT Explainer: Form 121 - How the new TDS declaration form simplifies tax compliance for senior citizens in 2026

"When a company is cutting costs, the expensive mid-level or senior hire who joined recently is often at more risk than the person who has been there for 4 years with deep system knowledge. And the worst part is this: once you get used to a certain lifestyle, it becomes mentally very hard to go backwards."

He further said that the job market does not care about how hard you've worked for your title and higher package.

"Your EMI does not want a career correction. Your ego does not want a lower title. Your family does not want a 'temporary step down'. But the market does not care. So now you are stuck in a dangerous zone: too expensive for many roles, too junior for some leadership roles, and unwilling to come down. This is why blindly chasing the next package is not always a winning strategy."

DON'T MISS | 8th Pay Commission: What it means for you as employees push for Old Pension Scheme

So, what should you do when the job market is so ruthless? According to Singh, better strategy is to switch jobs with a solid reason, build rare skills that make you more dependable in the job market, make sure your market value is backed by real depth, and save enough money so that the negotiation process is stress-free. 

Towards the end, he left users with a question, "More salary is good of course. But with every jump, ask yourself: am I becoming more valuable or just more expensive?"

The post went viral on social media, with netizens divided on the higher salary lands you earlier on the chopping block take. 

"Completely wrong analysis- Layoffs happens irrespective of your Salary. People are getting fired in every pay bracket from 10 lakh to 1 cr. But  people with high package invested more and therefore has now big cushion compared to person with low salary," a user commented. 

A second user said, "Well said, More salary doesn't guarantee permanent employment. Need to take care while switching if it's fits as per our requirement and skills then go ahead rather than running for bigger package always. Financial planning is most important in life. Still learning and implementing slowly."

A third user weighed in, "Depends! If goal is efficiency/leaner team/ restructure then layoffs are irrespective of band or salary. But currently is about freeing up cash for massive AI-data center investments. When costs need to be cut at scale, the easiest targets are 15–25 yrs experienced resources."

Another user wrote, "One way to deal with this is to keep your lifestyle same at 80LPA as it was at 20LPA. That way, you will invest more, live comfortably, and more resilient to life's unexpected changes."