In yet another layoff wave, Oracle is set to cut thousands of jobs across multiple divisions as the company grapples with a mounting cash crunch stemming from its ambitious and increasingly costly AI data center expansion, Bloomberg reports. The planned reductions, potentially beginning as early as this month, would represent the largest restructuring in the company’s history.
In a filing from September, Oracle revealed that the initiative might amount to as much as $1.6 billion in the present fiscal year, encompassing severance payments, considerably exceeding any prior reductions the company has executed. The cutbacks will affect various business divisions, with certain positions being targeted that Oracle anticipates will become obsolete due to AI, as per individuals knowledgeable about the situation.
The company has also frozen or slowed hiring across its cloud division after internally announcing a review of open job listings this week. Oracle, which had about 162,000 employees globally as of May 2025, declined to comment. Planning for the cuts is still active and the scope could change, Bloomberg noted.
$300 Billion OpenAI Bet Strains Oracle Finances
Oracle’s ambitious push to transform from a legacy database firm into an AI cloud rival to Amazon and Microsoft is costing heavily. Its $300 billion partnership with OpenAI is expected to require $156 billion in capital spending and around 3 million GPUs.
In just two months, Oracle added $58 billion in new debt, $38 billion for data centers in Texas and Wisconsin, $20 billion for a New Mexico campus pushing total debt past $100 billion. Analysts warn free cash flow could turn negative for years, with returns not expected until 2030.
The market has reacted sharply: after rising 61% in 2024 and 20% last year, Oracle shares have tumbled 54% from their September 2025 peak, wiping out roughly $463 billion in market value.