Oracle starts a new round of layoffs — against a backdrop of debt for AI infrastructure

Oracle has begun another round of layoffs. Business Insider learned about it from three affected employees and from an email the company sent to staff. The notice says the role is being eliminated as part of "broader organizational changes," and the day the email is received is declared the last working day. Exactly how many people were laid off is not reported: the company has not publicly confirmed the new round.

This continues a long series of layoffs. Over the fiscal year that ended May 31, 2026, Oracle's headcount shrank by 21,000 people — roughly 13%. Before the current round, the company employed about 141,000 people.

According to documents reviewed by the publication, those laid off are offered severance: four weeks of base pay plus one week for each year of service at the company. Business Insider reported on plans for the new round a month earlier — it was meant to cut personnel costs, and in some teams the reduction reached double digits (according to an internal document). On Monday, posts began appearing on LinkedIn, Reddit and Blind from people claiming they were affected by the layoffs.

The reason is growing debt for AI infrastructure. The company is building data centers on the bet of demand for artificial intelligence, and its capital expenditures in the first quarter were $28.5 billion versus $8.5 billion a year earlier. The company kept its forecast for fiscal 2027 at $90–95 billion.

Wall Street is not yet sure the bet will pay off, though the latest report did contain some encouraging signals — for example, growth in the cloud business. An Oracle representative did not respond promptly to Business Insider's request.