Amid sweeping job cuts by Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, Oracle has become the latest tech giant to trim its workforce, laying off more than 150 employees from its cloud division in the Seattle area, Bloomberg reported.
Oracle layoffs come as the company seeks to rein in soaring costs linked to multibillion-dollar investments in AI infrastructure, even as its cloud business fuels record-high stock prices.
According to people familiar with the matter, as reported by multiple media outlets, Oracle informed affected employees this week, with some reductions tied to performance issues.
While the Seattle area in the United States has long been the hub of its cloud operations, Oracle has been shifting focus to Tennessee after moving its headquarters to Nashville last year. The company continues to hire for other cloud roles there.
Why is Oracle downsizing?
Oracle cuts staff, first reported by Datacenter Dynamics, as part of wider tech industry cost-cutting amid heavy AI infrastructure spending.
According to Datacenter Dynamics, teams known to be impacted include OCI’s Enterprise Engineering division, Fusion ERP, data center operations technicians, technical project managers for the AI/ML team, and the broader OCI AI team.
Oracle Corporation layoffs are not the first among tech firms in recent months to implement workforce reductions.
“While the US and India are the first to be hit, workers in other regions report unspecified manager meetings later in the week, suggesting that local cuts could be on their way,” the article says.
Microsoft has cut around 15,000 jobs this year, Amazon and Meta have also enacted workforce reductions, and on Tuesday Microsoft confirmed it will lay off an additional 9,000 employees, less than 4% of its global workforce, targeting various teams to streamline operations, flatten management, and sharpen its AI focus.
Oracle’s cloud unit remains a key driver of investor optimism, with shares trading close to all-time highs. In June, it signed a landmark deal with OpenAI for about 4.5 gigawatts of U.S. data centre capacity, but such projects have driven its free cash flow into negative territory for the fiscal year ending May. A June filing noted that workforce changes are part of “strategic adjustments, reorganisations, or performance management,” though such moves can temporarily impact productivity.
The Enforcement Directorate did not respond to requests for comment on the scale of the layoffs.
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