Oracle has made significant job cuts across markets, with global layoffs expected to touch 30,000 employees. In India alone, around 12,000 employees are believed to have been laid off, marking a nearly 50 percent reduction in the company’s workforce in the region.
The layoffs span a wide range of roles, including engineers, architects, program managers, and operations leaders. According to senior manager Michael Shepherd, “The layoffs were not performance based,” indicating that the cuts are part of a larger strategic shift rather than individual employee evaluations.
Oracle’s decision comes amid a broader trend in the technology sector, where rising adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is reshaping workforce needs. Mike Sicilia noted, “AI tools are enabling smaller teams to deliver more output, reducing the need for large engineering groups.” This shift is evident in Oracle’s own operations, where Larry Ellison remarked, “They can generate computer code, a lot of the code that Oracle is writing, Oracle isn’t writing… our AI models are writing.”
In terms of severance, the package for affected employees in India includes 15 days’ salary for each year of service, notice pay, leave encashment, gratuity where applicable, and an additional two-month salary top-up. This is a significant consideration for those facing sudden unemployment.
Despite the layoffs, Oracle is planning to invest at least $50 billion in infrastructure this year, having raised an additional $50 billion in debt to meet growing demand. The company is also part of the $500 billion Stargate initiative, aimed at building data center capacity to support future AI workloads.
However, Oracle’s total debt has now crossed $100 billion, following $58 billion in new issuances tied to these data center investments. This financial maneuvering underscores the company’s commitment to expanding its cloud and AI capabilities, despite the workforce reductions.
Oracle has also committed $2 billion in Germany and $8 billion in Japan toward AI and cloud expansion, further highlighting its strategic focus on these areas.
Details remain unconfirmed regarding further layoffs in India, which are expected within weeks. Additionally, the exact impact on Indian workers in overseas roles remains unclear, adding to the uncertainty surrounding this significant restructuring.
