Most of Oracle's offerings are large enterprise application software that require "major capital expenditures," he said, which is "more subject to recessionary pressure" than, for instance, software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions.

Which may be why Oracle consultants, like the one who spoke to Computerworld , were hit hard. He was given a three-month severance package, which he called "a pittance."

Rival enterprise software vendor also conducted a round of layoffs last week, cutting about 100 jobs in the U.S. and Canada. The reductions were related to SAP's "continuing ," and affected a range of positions, but were not related to the economy, according to a spokesman.

Oracle's layoffs, as reported by occurred worldwide.

In India, 40 employees in Bangalore were laid off, according to . More than 60% of Oracle's 86,657 employees work outside of North America.