Software giant Oracle on Tuesday, March 31, started laying off workers in a bid to cut costs and double down on artificial intelligence.
On LinkedIn, Oracle employees, including software engineers, account executives and program managers, shared publicly that they were affected by a mass layoff at the company and were looking for new jobs.
The company is the latest tech firm to shed workers as it focuses more heavily on AI.
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.
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.
Business Insider reported earlier on the Oracle cuts, citing an email the company sent to employees early Tuesday.
“After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last working day,” the email stated.
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.
As part of their pivot to artificial intelligence, Oracle, OpenAI and Softbank announced last year that they would invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years in a project called Stargate. Companies rely on a massive trove of data to train and maintain AI systems, increasing the demand for data centers that house computing equipment.
Oracle has also teamed up with with AI chipmaker Nvidia, the world’s most valuable tech company.
