Oracle is steering clear of talent from major tech hubs in the cloud giant's latest more to save money and curb labor costs

Morning, everyone! And happy Tuesday. I'm your host, Avery Hartmans.

All eyes are on the tech giants today as we kick off a big week of earnings that could either be a pleasant surprise for Wall Street — or a harbinger of tough times ahead.

Some tech firms are already tightening the purse strings. Take Oracle, which is implementing a new cost-cutting directive: eschewing new hires based in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York and looking for candidates from less-expensive regions across the US and abroad. It's part of the cloud giant's plan to curb labor costs that insiders say is starting to hurt morale.

Let's get into it.

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1. Oracle is steering clear of job-seekers in major tech hubs. In an effort to save money and cut back on labor costs, Oracle is changing its hiring practice to avoid candidates in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. These guidelines come amid other hiring restrictions implemented at the cloud giant, which employees say are further tanking already low morale.

• One Oracle executive recently instructed recruiters and hiring managers to look for talent outside major US tech hubs in hopes of finding employees with lower salary expectations and a lower cost of living, employees say.
• In some cases, hiring managers are being asked to backfill formerly US-based roles with candidates from Eastern Europe to save money.
• Oracle is trying to cut $1 billion in costs and has already had two rounds of layoffs in recent months. Employees say they're worried that more cuts are on the way.

Inside Oracle's latest hiring restrictions.

In other news:

2. Elon Musk has to buy Twitter by Friday. Musk only has four days left for his $44 billion Twitter deal to go through or he's headed to court. The deal is expected to close, but the pressure is officially on for Musk and his lawyers. Here's what experts think will happen in the days and weeks ahead.

3. The Amazon values startup founders keep — and throw away. Amazon has become a training ground of sorts for startup founders: more than 600 Amazon alums have launched their own companies to date. But those founders don't always mold their companies in Amazon's image. These are the Amazon values founders are leaving in the past.

4. A prominent investor wants Mark Zuckerberg to cut way back on metaverse spending. Ahead of Meta's earnings this week, an investor whose fund owns hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Meta shares said the company has "lost the confidence of investors" and suggested ways for how it can regain "focus." He isn't alone in his criticisms, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey compared the metaverse to a "project car" that others may not see value in.

5. Amazon healthcare salaries revealed. It looks like Amazon is staffing up on its healthcare teams, hiring for jobs in biomedical engineering and healthcare data management as it makes a major push into the sector. Here's how much these roles make.

6. Bono dishes on Steve Jobs. A forthcoming memoir from the U2 frontman details the band's relationship with Jobs and Apple in the early 2000s, which included an iPod commercial and later, a free album for iTunes users. Bono said the band asked Jobs to be paid in Apple stock instead of cash and described what it was like meeting with Jobs at his Palo Alto home.

7. How Atlassian's work-from-anywhere policy reunited a long-distance couple. Atlassian product manager Amanda Gitahi lived apart from her husband while they each pursued work opportunities — now, she's relocated twice and traveled the world thanks to Atlassian's "Team Anywhere" remote work policy. She shares how Atlassian has made remote work a success.

8. What it's like to be a TikTok moderator. In a new report, TikTok moderators described scrolling through videos of child abuse and gun violence and being required to keep their webcams on all night as they worked. Some moderators say they're paid just $10 a day for their work. More on their experiences here.

Odds and ends:

9. Test-driving the $41,000 Tesla rival. One of the hottest electric cars on the market isn't sold by Elon Musk — it's the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Its stylish interior and impressive range have made it a popular alternative to the Tesla Model Y, so we put the two SUVs to the test. Here's how the Ioniq 5 stacks up.

10. When to upgrade your laptop. Experts say your laptop purchase should last you at least four years and you probably shouldn't expect to use it past a decade. If you're starting to see dead pixels or a yellowed screen, it could mean your device is headed toward retirement. These are some other signs that it's probably time for an upgrade.

Correction: October 25, 2022 — An earlier version of this story misstated a Meta investor's suggestion for Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse plans. He wants Meta to significantly cut metaverse spending, not give up on the business.

What we're watching today:

• Microsoft, Alphabet, and Spotify are reporting earnings today.

Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.

Curated by Avery Hartmans in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email ahartmans@insider.com or tweet @averyhartmans.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.