Oracle has begun another round of layoffs, with employees in the US receiving early-morning emails informing them that their roles had been eliminated as part of broader organisational changes. The latest job cuts come as the technology company continues to manage costs while significantly increasing its investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
According to reports, affected employees began losing access to Oracle’s internal systems before receiving formal notification. Some employees reported that their federated logins stopped working at around 4 AM Eastern Time, followed by disruptions to Slack access and, in some cases, office badge access. At around 6 AM local time, employees received emails from “Oracle Leadership” informing them that their positions had been eliminated.
The notification reportedly stated that the decision was part of a broader organisational change and that the affected employees’ final working day was the same day they received the email. The process closely resembles Oracle’s earlier round of layoffs, when employees were also notified through early-morning emails after losing access to company systems.
The exact number of employees affected in the latest round has not been disclosed. Reports indicate that workers across multiple departments were impacted, with some teams experiencing reductions of more than 10%. Oracle has not publicly announced a specific figure for the latest layoffs.
The new cuts follow a much larger workforce reduction earlier in 2026. Oracle reduced its workforce by approximately 21,000 employees, or 13%, during the year, bringing its workforce down from around 162,000 employees to approximately 141,000 before the latest round.
The layoffs are taking place as Oracle pursues an aggressive expansion of its artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure business. The company has substantially increased its capital spending as it builds data-centre capacity to support growing demand for AI and cloud services. Oracle reported $28.5 billion in capital expenditure in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, compared with significantly lower spending previously, and has indicated plans for further large-scale investment.
At the same time, Oracle is facing significant restructuring costs. Reuters reported that the company plans to increase its restructuring expenses by another $700 million, taking the projected cost of its fiscal 2026 restructuring plan to approximately $2.8 billion. The restructuring programme includes job cuts and contract terminations as Oracle adjusts its business and cost structure while increasing its focus on AI services.
The latest workforce reduction also comes despite strong performance in Oracle’s cloud infrastructure business. Its cloud infrastructure revenue surged 121% to $7.4 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, while operating income increased 57% to $6.7 billion, according to recent reports. The strong growth highlights the contrasting priorities facing the company as it expands its AI infrastructure while simultaneously looking for ways to control payroll and other costs.
For affected US employees, reports indicate that Oracle’s severance package includes four weeks of base pay plus one additional week for every year of service, subject to the company’s applicable terms and limits. The notification emails reportedly treated the day of notification as the employees’ final working day.
The latest layoffs also raise questions about the potential impact on Oracle’s workforce in other markets, including India. Recent reports have suggested that Oracle’s India Development Centre could face further workforce changes, although there is no confirmed figure or official announcement regarding additional India-specific layoffs in this latest round.
Oracle’s latest restructuring illustrates the tension facing major technology companies as they increase spending on AI infrastructure while seeking greater efficiency across their existing operations. For Oracle, the strategy involves balancing substantial investment in data centres and cloud infrastructure with efforts to reduce operating costs and reshape its workforce around its evolving business priorities.
