recession

Oracle has sliced approximately 500 positions from its sales and consulting staff businesses in North America, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The positions, which would account for less than 2 percent of Oracle's North American workforce as of November, were cut on Friday, according to the Journal.

Oracle's reported layoffs come at a time when a number of companies across all industry sectors are slashing their workforce by double digits as the economy languishes in a recession.

And while other companies are making staff cuts amid steep declines in their revenues and earnings, Oracle'… Read more

My CNET handler called today. He is the man who yanks at the dog lead permanently attached around my throat and croaks: "Write, puppy, write."

My handler said he had been present at last week's Crunchie awards, something to do with giving chocolate bars to fine new Internet companies. And he told me that he heard Google's Marissa Mayer whisper that in these times of infinite woe, more people were googling "recipes" than "restaurants."

The first thought that came into my mind was just one word: raccoon. You see, these brazen, beady-eyed … Read more

LAS VEGAS--There are probably a lot of different ways to measure how the deepening recession has impacted the Consumer Electronics Show, but in Sin City, it stands to reason that one of the best is how much business the local strip clubs are getting.

In an entirely unscientific survey, then, my conclusion is that CES was hit hard by the downturn, at least if the experience of one local taxi driver is any indication.

"We taxi drivers, we've got a thing with the strip clubs, where we get a kickback...so it's big money if we can … Read more

Not that anyone was in doubt, but The New York Times is reporting that venture capitalists are struggling to sell their start-ups. With technology entrepreneurs having little prospect of a big exit through the IPO or M&A markets, is the bi-weekly paycheck the new god of Silicon Valley?

Maybe, maybe not. Silicon Valley culture is heavily entrepreneurial and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. However, I suspect that the rank and file at companies like Digg are going to be much more concerned with their paychecks than their underwater stock options for the next year. Cash is … Read more

TechNewsWorld suggests that the technology industry may be relatively insulated from job losses in the recession. Yes, technology has its share of job cuts, and any cut is painful if you're on the receiving end, but there are bright spots in the economy.

Open source is one of them.

While the article points to a few different areas of technology that should comparatively thrive in a downturn, as I note in the article, open source is particularly well-suited to a troubled economy:

In a recession, headcount looks like a cost center, but open source can turn employees into profit … Read more

Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories about the recession's effect on the tech industry.

A year before the U.S. economic crisis came to a head, Debra James of Oakland said she saw the writing on the wall and decided to trim the household budget. Topping the list were things like satellite television.

"I could tell the economy was getting sluggish in the summer of 2007," she said. "So I decided we needed to make some cuts, so that if things got worse, it wouldn't be so painful."

Indeed, … Read more

Holiday spending on electronics for family members remains high on the to-do list, according to a survey by IDC and the National Research Network (NRN).

According to results from a survey of more than 3,000 consumers, 62 percent indicated they planned to spend the same amount or more on electronics for family members this holiday.

Those surprising results come as big-box electronics retailers face a challenging time. Best Buy announced a 77 percent drop in earnings and call for employee buyouts earlier this month and Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

Nonetheless, consumers are maintaining their … Read more

Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories about the recession's effect on the tech industry.

Entrepreneur Treb Ryan remembers in vivid detail the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 700 points and dropped below 9,000 for the first time in years.

He was visiting a major computer maker on that day, October 9, waiting to meet with a potential investor about funding his start-up OpSource.

"I was about a half an hour early for the appointment and was sitting in the lobby, where they have a big screen TV," recalled … Read more

The iPhone has enjoyed a strong run, leapfrogging RIM to claim second place in the smartphone market with 17.3 market share, as reported in Ars Technica. But will Apple be able to hold or grow its iPhone market position in 2009?

I polled a group of 17-year old neighbors yesterday, asking them what gadgets they crave. Most would love an iPhone but, barring that (due to cost or carrier reasons), one phone that got a lot of praise is the Samsung Glyde. While CNET didn't give it much love, these teens loved the slide-out keyboard. (Giving how often … Read more