Tech giant Oracle has laid off thousands of its workforce in massive job cuts that could reportedly impact 30,000 employees globally amid the company’s push to fund more artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Employees in the U.S., India, Canada, Mexico, and other countries began receiving job termination emails from “Oracle Leadership” at about 6 am local time Tuesday, sparking what could be the largest layoff in the company’s history, Business Insider first reported.
About 12,000 of the company’s employees in India have been laid off, according to local news reports.
Oracle’s termination emails to its laid-off staff cited “broader organisational change” in what is widely seen as a reference to the tech giant’s recent push to build more AI data centres.
“After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organisational change. As a result, today is your last working day,” the email reportedly said.
The cloud computing service provider employed 162,000 people as of May 2025, meaning the job cuts could affect 18 per cent of its workforce.
“After signing your termination paperwork, you will be eligible to receive a severance package subject to the terms and conditions of the severance plan,” the company said.
“Access to your computer, email, voicemail, and files will be deactivated soon, and you will be unable to log into your computer,” it said in the job termination email.
The mass layoffs come despite the tech giant reporting an “exceptional” last quarter with revenues up 22 per cent in USD and financial results that “exceeded expectations”.
It raised $50 billion in debt and equity in January but said there were no further plans to raise debt in 2026.
However, in recent months, the company’s stocks have been on a downward slide, slipping nearly 25 percent since the beginning of the year, more than all the major tech firms.
Analysts wrote in January that the company could get up to $10 billion in incremental free cash by cutting 30,000 employees.
“Demand for AI infrastructure, both GPU and CPU, continues to exceed supply. This is directly visible in our $553 billion remaining performance obligations,” Oracle chief Clay Magouyrk said in an earnings call earlier this month.
The tech giant has also been reportedly piloting programs with AI agents doing routine database administration work, work that used to require teams of engineers.
Oracle has not immediately responded to The Independent‘s request for comments.
