The software giant announced the major lay-off at 6am with an email to staff (Image: Getty)
The American multinational technology company Oracle, co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison, has reportedly sent layoff emails to tens of thousands of employees worldwide. The tech giant, which also serves as the title partner of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, has sacked around 12,000 employees in India alone, as part of the 30,000 laid off.
Another round of job cuts is expected within a month. “In India, around 12,000 employees have been laid off. The company is planning another mass layoff within a month,” two people impacted by the sacking, including one from the company’s human resource department, told PTI news agency. In an early morning email, the employees were informed about certain organisational changes and “because of these changes, a decision has been taken to streamline the operations, and as a result, unfortunately, the position you currently hold will become redundant”.
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Billionaire Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle in 1977 (Image: Getty Images)
Oracle employed about 162,000 people as of May 2025, meaning cuts on the scale being discussed could affect around 18% of its workforce.
Dozens of people on the Oracle employees’ Reddit page are reporting that they were laid off via a single email that arrived in their inboxes minutes after 6am on Tuesday (March 31). Workers across the US, India and other countries reported receiving the same email from “Oracle Leadership,” under the subject line “Immediate Action Required – Important Information Regarding Your Employment”. Shortly after, more than a dozen people on LinkedIn announced they had been laid off by Oracle, according to Business Insider. The outlet reported that some of the roles affected include staff in Oracle’s cloud computing business.
The software giant Oracle was co-founded by Mr Ellison, who ranks sixth on the Forbes Billionaires list, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates in 1977, and since then the company has pioneered the world’s first autonomous database and the broadest range of AI-powered cloud applications. In 2022, the company laid off thousands of people after its $28billion (£21billion) acquisition of medical records giant Cerner.
The company has reportedly offered 15 days’ salary to each employee who has completed a year of service in India, in addition to one month of unpaid wages until the termination date, leave encashment and gratuity, based on eligibility and pay, for a one-month notice period. Oracle has also offered a two-month salary as a top-up, according to Hindustan Times.
The staff cuts could affect around 18% of Oracle’s workforce (Image: Reddit)
These layoffs come after Oracle’s stock fell nearly 30% this year, with analysts reporting in December that the company’s stock was heading toward its worst quarter since 2001. In January, Business Insider reported that Oracle was struggling to secure financing for its $500billion (£375billion) AI data centre infrastructure project with ChatGPT operator OpenAI, known as Stargate. Then, in February, Oracle announced a $50billion (£37.5billion) debt raise to help fund its AI data centre buildout.
According to Hindustan Times, an ex-Oracle employee, Merugu Sridhar, said he was laid off in September for protesting the 16-hour work shift the company has in India.
“I contacted my friends and those who are in human resources. They shared that most of the Indians working in the US with the company have been impacted because the local laws there are very strict when it comes to the retrenchment of their citizens,” PTI quoted Mr Sridhar as saying.
The Express has contacted Oracle, who declined to comment.
