I started working at Oracle nearly a decade ago, after the stock had gone up significantly. After this peak, the stock was not really expected to go up much in the next couple years. Around that time, they started giving employees a choice between options and RSUs. The thinking was that options are worthless if the strike price isn't hit, whereas RSUs can drop in value but not to zero.

If they're not doing so already, I imagine other employers will start offering RSUs as well.