Oracle Cuts Tens of Thousands of Employees Amid Aggressive AI Investment Push

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Global technology giant Oracle has reportedly laid off thousands of employees globally in March 2026.

This drastic step was taken by the company as part of a major restructuring.

The layoffs aim to shift focus and financial resources to the development of its massive artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

These layoffs, estimated to affect tens of thousands of employees, began simultaneously on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in various regions including the United States, India, Canada, and Mexico.

Employees received notification via email without prior warning from management.

BREAKING: Oracle laid off 20,000-30,000 employees this morning with a single 6 am email.

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) March 31, 2026

The exact number of Oracle employees affected by these mass layoffs has not been officially confirmed by the company.

However, estimates from investment bank TD Cowen suggest that the figure could reach between 20,000 and 30,000 employees globally.

This represents approximately 18% of Oracle's total workforce of 162,000 as of May 2025.

In India alone, approximately 12,000 Oracle jobs are expected to be impacted by this wave of layoffs, demonstrating the global scale of the restructuring.

The layoffs happened quickly and without warning; employees in multiple countries received notification emails from "Oracle Leadership" on the morning of March 31, 2026.

The email immediately stated that their roles had been eliminated as part of a "broader organizational change."

The primary reason behind these layoffs is Oracle's aggressive push to build a massive artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, increased its capital expenditures to establish new AI data centers.

The cost of building these AI data centers is enormous, with Oracle committing $156 billion in capital expenditures related to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

To fund this ambitious expansion, Oracle has raised between $45 billion and $50 billion in debt and equity financing through 2026 alone.

The company has also taken on $58 billion in new debt in the past two months, pushing its total debt above $100 billion.

TD Cowen estimates that these workforce reductions will free up $8 billion to $10 billion in cash flow.

Additionally, the company's stock price has fallen 25% this year, more than the decline of all major tech companies combined, as reported by CNBC.

Oracle disclosed a $2.1 billion restructuring plan in its March 2026 SEC 10-Q filing.

Despite the layoffs, Oracle reported a 95% increase in net income in the last quarter, reaching $6.13 billion, demonstrating strong financial performance in several areas.

However, the company faces significant financial pressure from its substantial AI infrastructure investments.

Wall Street analysts estimate that Oracle may experience negative free cash flow for the next few years.

Even so, executives Mike Sicilia and Clay Magouyrk have said its AI investment will pay off, over time.

“Demand for AI infrastructure, both GPU and CPU, continues to exceed supply,” Magouyrk said on an earnings call earlier this month. “This is directly visible in our $553 billion remaining performance obligations.”