AUSTIN, Texas — Some Austinites are out of a job as tech companies restructure to focus on artificial intelligence.
Last week, some Oracle employees based in Austin took to social media to share that the company had notified them they were being let go. Nationwide layoffs of thousands of employees at the company were first reported by CNBC.
“Today, I was impacted by Oracle’s layoffs. It’s a strange feeling, but I’m incredibly proud of what I was able to build over the past 4 years, from intern to full-time, and grateful for the experience, mentors, and teammates along the way,” one employee in Austin wrote on LinkedIn.
The layoffs have extended beyond Oracle in recent months. A WARN Notice issued by Expedia Group, Inc. said 100 employees were being laid off in the Austin area in February.
“Sorry to hear it. I got laid off from Vrbo/Expedia a few weeks ago, and it’s jarring. Hang in there!” one former employee wrote on a Reddit thread about the layoffs.
Liz McGary worked for Oracle for four and a half years. She said she served as a manager of one of the company’s NetSuite teams before receiving notice that she was being let go last week.
She said funding for restructuring in the company’s most recent earnings report tipped her off that her job may be at risk.
“When I got the email on Tuesday, I was not as caught off guard as maybe others might have been, but it still hurt,” she said. “I know I’m a good, capable worker, but I also know that Oracle has changing business needs.”
McGary said the company is shifting more resources to its AI development, requiring funding to come from other areas of the company.
She doesn’t believe, however, that her job will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
“AI can still be a beneficial tool, but I don’t see it taking away and replacing the work I was doing,” she said.
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Kevin Frazier, the director of AI innovation and law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, said he expects the local economy to change in the coming years in response to the growth of artificial intelligence, but urges people not to lead with fear.
“There’s no one silver bullet that answers, you know, ‘What caused this job to be displaced?’ or ‘What caused this job to disappear?’ Instead, what we need to ask is, ‘How do we create the next jobs?'” Frazier said.
He said community support is needed to ensure the Austin workforce is able to keep up with the changing landscape.
“The answer to economic disruption shouldn’t be, good luck, see you later, you’ll figure it out,” he said.
Joydeep Biswas, an associate professor of computer science at UT Austin, said while jobs may look different in Austin because of the advancements in AI, it does not mean that they will disappear entirely.
For example, code developers may use AI tools to expedite the coding process, but the tools are not perfect.
“I tell my students, I think it’s worth us understanding what these tools are capable of and what they’re not capable of, making use of them productively to amplify what we can do in the compressed amount of time, but also being vigilant, constantly being vigilant,” Biswas said.
McGary said she remains optimistic about the job market. She has since filed for unemployment and encourages others impacted by layoffs to do the same as they search for jobs.
Oracle declined to comment when asked about the scope of the layoffs in Austin and the role of artificial intelligence.
Expedia did not respond to a request for comment.