Oracle might have laid off 18% of its global workforce
What's the story
Oracle has started a major round of layoffs across its global offices. The job cuts have been announced via termination emails sent today, leaving many workers in shock. The move is part of one of Oracle's biggest restructuring efforts in recent memory and comes as the company invests heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Layoff details
Email notifications sent by Oracle
The termination emails from "Oracle Leadership" started arriving as early as 6:00am EST. They informed employees that their roles had been eliminated as part of a broader organizational change. The message was clear: the day the email was received would also be the employee's last working day. Workers reported that this notification process was abrupt and impersonal, with no prior warning or discussion from HR or managers.
Post-layoff process
Immediate revocation of access for some employees
The email from Oracle also said that after signing termination paperwork through DocuSign, employees would be eligible for a severance package under the company's terms and conditions. They were also asked to update their personal email addresses for follow-up communication after their company accounts were disabled. Access to production systems was revoked almost immediately after the email was received by some workers.
Affected teams
Layoffs impact multiple business units at Oracle
The layoffs have hit several business units at Oracle, with the most affected teams being RHS (Revenue and Health Sciences) and SVOS (SaaS and Virtual Operations Services). The cuts at NetSuite's India Development Centre included project management, individual contributor, and manager positions across different seniority levels. The scale of these layoffs indicates that the restructuring is not limited to isolated departments but spans multiple operational areas.
Strategic shift
AI data center expansion driving job cuts
The layoffs appear directly tied to Oracle's aggressive push into AI infrastructure and data center expansion. The company could be looking to cut 20,000-30,000 jobs, or about 18% of its global workforce of 162,000 people. The goal is to free up $8 billion-$10 billion in cash flow for an ambitious and debt-heavy expansion into AI data centers.