Oracle has begun another round of layoffs in India, with employees across multiple teams receiving termination notices as the technology giant pushes ahead with a fresh cost-cutting exercise.
The layoffs started in the US on September 14 before extending to India, according to people familiar with the matter. The latest round appears to be concentrated in product engineering, while support and consulting functions have seen relatively fewer cuts.
The exact number of employees affected in India remains unclear. Earlier estimates suggested that close to 3,000 employees could be impacted, while internal discussions indicate that the final figure could change as the exercise progresses.
Credits: The Economic Times
Oracle layoffs begin in phases across teams
Oracle’s latest workforce reduction has reportedly unfolded in phases, adding to uncertainty among employees. By September 15, the company’s global headcount had fallen by at least 5,000 to 6,000 employees over the weekend, according to a source familiar with the developments.
Employees in India have been discussing the layoffs on internal Slack channels, although those conversations have not provided a reliable estimate of the total number of people affected.
The uncertainty has also raised concerns that the current exercise may not be the final round of job cuts. “More is expected to happen,” a source said, reflecting anxiety among employees who remain unsure about whether their positions could be affected in subsequent phases.
The latest developments follow reports earlier this month that Oracle could begin another round of layoffs around the beginning or middle of September, with teams being asked to reduce budgets across different functions.
Product engineering takes biggest hit
Product engineering appears to have borne the brunt of the latest cuts, while support and consulting teams have experienced comparatively fewer layoffs.
Some senior employees from Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS) global teams have also reportedly been affected. However, OFSS employees in India have not seen layoffs in the current round so far, according to sources.
The timing of the cuts has surprised some employees, particularly those in teams where senior management had not indicated that layoffs were imminent.
In one instance, an employee was reportedly involved in routine work-related discussions as recently as September 12 before being laid off shortly afterward. Such developments have intensified concerns among employees, who say that normal work activity provided little indication that their roles were at risk.
Oracle’s termination communication reportedly described the job cuts as part of a “broader organisational change” based on the company’s current business needs.
Affected employees were informed that their last working day would be the day of the communication. They would also be eligible for severance benefits, subject to the terms of Oracle’s severance plan, while access to company systems, email, voicemail, computers and files would be deactivated.
Credits: The Hindu
Oracle cuts jobs while boosting AI spending
The layoffs come as Oracle continues to pour billions of dollars into cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence while attempting to control costs and reshape its workforce around changing business priorities.
The company had disclosed earlier this year that it eliminated 21,000 jobs during the 12 months ended May 31. The cuts reduced Oracle’s global workforce by around 13% to approximately 141,000 employees.
External reports and employee tracking efforts have put the overall number of job cuts at closer to 30,000, suggesting that the company’s workforce restructuring could be considerably larger than the figures officially disclosed.
For Oracle employees, the latest round has brought renewed uncertainty, particularly as layoffs appear to be taking place in stages rather than through a single company-wide announcement.
As Oracle balances its push into AI and cloud infrastructure with pressure to improve efficiency, the company’s workforce strategy is likely to remain under close scrutiny. For employees in India, the biggest concern now is whether the latest cuts represent the end of the restructuring—or another step in a longer cost-cutting programme.
