Tech giant Oracle has carried out significant layoffs, with around 10,000 employees affected, as the company ramps up its investments in artificial intelligence (AI), according to reports from senior staff and social media posts. The cuts were not performance-related, with affected roles including senior engineers, architects, program managers, and technical specialists.
Employees reported noticing fewer staff active on Oracle’s internal Slack system, while some received early-morning emails informing them of their termination, along with one month of severance pay. Former employees have described the layoffs as part of a mass reduction in force, but remain supportive of Oracle’s strategic direction.
Oracle executives said AI tools are enabling smaller teams to deliver more efficiently, automate sales processes, and improve operations, including the development of Oracle’s new company website. Co-CEO Mike Silicia explained that AI is allowing the company to achieve more with fewer staff, a trend also seen in other tech firms such as Meta and Block.
The layoffs coincide with Oracle’s massive AI infrastructure investments, including $50 billion in spending on internal systems and partnerships, such as with OpenAI. The company has also raised $50 billion in debt to meet the growing demand for AI processing. Oracle is participating in the Stargate initiative, a $500 billion US project alongside OpenAI, SoftBank, and MGX, aimed at expanding data center capacity for AI.
Despite the job reductions, Oracle maintains that its operating model remains profitable while scaling capital-intensive AI operations rapidly.
Source: BBC, LinkedIn posts from Oracle employees, Oracle official statements
