Software giant Oracle will lay off over 850 to 1,000 jobs in its European operations owing to a slow growth in the continent, said French trade union Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT).

According to the trade union, Oracle, with a workforce of 17,000 people in Europe was forced to cut headcounts after reporting gloomy revenue performance in the region and also because of the dire need to uphold the company’s opening margin so as to materialize its long-term strategy.

The company revealed that its total revenues fell 5 percent to $6.9 billion in its most recent financial quarter.

In Europe, revenue fell by nearly 10 percent to $2.4 billion, but its operating margin during the quarter, was at 48 percent, the highest in the company’s history.

Oracle, which employs 1600 people in France and 17 000 in Europe, has announced a few months earlier that it would acquire Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.