"There was certainly a major event on Friday," said , a software consultant whose blog, The Enterprise System Spectator, , citing multiple anonymous e-mails sent directly to him, as well postings at his site.

One poster to Scavo's blog, who identified themself as "Deb" and a member of an online group for , wrote "I can safely confirm that they had laid off 20% of the consulting staff."

Anonymous reports also began showing up on the , and accelerated on Friday.

Cuts are believed to have hit a number of locations and divisions, with Oracle's Bangalore operations and various sales divisions the subject of multiple reports.

"Friday - Jan 9, came as a shock! I am really sad to see my friends and colleagues being asked to leave," a user identified as "kayc" said in a post on Monday. "There were no clear cut reasons given to them, which is strange. And, I am shocked that this happened in a company like Oracle (supposedly 'the giant')."