Oracle layoffs: More than 10,000 job cuts have to do with Sam Altman, a promise Oracle made to OpenAI for… – The Times of India

Oracle layoffs: More than 10,000 job cuts have to do with Sam Altman, a promise Oracle made to OpenAI for… – The Times of India

By TOI Tech Desk
Publication Date: 2026-04-06 08:06:00

Oracle is laying off at least 10,000 employees – possibly as many as 30,000 – as it struggles to meet the cash needs of a $300 billion cloud computing deal with OpenAI. The cuts, Oracle’s largest restructuring ever, affect business units including Oracle Health, Cloud, Sales and NetSuite. Facing over $100 billion in debt and severely negative free cash flow, the company is reducing its workforce to fund Larry Ellison’s AI data center ambitions.

Oracle is laying off thousands of employees across all business units worldwide – at least 10,000 have left so far, with analysts at TD Cowen estimating the final number could rise to 20,000 to 30,000. That would be around 18% of Oracle’s 162,000 employees worldwide and the company’s largest restructuring ever. Oracle said in September 2025 that the plan could cost up to $1.6 billion this fiscal year in severance payments alone – dwarfing any restructuring it has undertaken to date.Oracle hasn’t said much publicly. The dismissal email was sent to those affected…