At Oracle, AI is no longer just used to sell cloud. It also serves to justify a social cut of rare violence. At the beginning of April, the group launched a wave of global layoffs announced by email at dawn, in a context of massive spending on its data centers and increasing pressure on its cash flow.
In brief
- Oracle is scaling back its workforce even as its revenues are growing.
- AI now absorbs a growing share of budgets and decisions.
- Tech is entering a phase where growth no longer guarantees jobs.
A brutal wave, carried out cold
While some companies like OpenAI are skyrocketing to spectacular valuations, others are slashing their workforce. Oracle has started cutting thousands of jobs in several countries. According to The Independent and Business Insider, the operation could affect up to 30,000 employees, with emails sent around 6 a.m. local time. The tone left little room for doubt. For several employees, it all came down to a formula that was as brief as it was brutal: “Today is your last day of work.”
However, one important nuance must be kept. Oracle has not publicly confirmed the total of 30,000 job cuts. Reuters speaks, at this stage, thousands of layoffs and reports a legal notice filed in Washington State regarding 491 eliminated positions, effective June 1.
Even with this caution, the scale is already striking. Oracle had 162,000 employees in 2025. If the high estimate of 30,000 is confirmed, that would represent about 18% of the workforce. At this level, we no longer talk about adjustment. We are talking about an industrial shift.
Oracle: solid results, but cash flow under pressure
The most disturbing thing is elsewhere. Oracle isn't laying off people because its business is collapsing. In March, the group published a third fiscal quarter of 2026 described as an “exceptional quarter”, with turnover up 22% to $17.2 billion. The cloud continues to drive the machine.
Yet Wall Street remains nervous. At the end of March, Oracle stock remained down about 29% since the start of the year despite an immediate rebound after the cuts were announced. The paradox is clear: revenues are growing, but the market is worried about the cost of the AI race.
This concern mainly comes from data centers. Oracle announced in early February that it wanted to raise between $45 and $50 billion via debt and equity to finance the expansion of its cloud infrastructures. What is at stake at Oracle therefore goes beyond simple cost reduction. AI becomes a budget arbiter. When a company must choose between preserving teams or financing its computing capacities, the priority now shifts to machines, chips and data centers. The employees come later.
The signal sent by Oracle is brutal but clear. In tech, an increase in turnover no longer protects jobs. A “good” company can lay off massively if it believes that AI promises better returns tomorrow. This is undoubtedly the real turning point: AI is no longer just a product. It becomes a management logic, almost a doctrine. But this shift also has its share of dangers. A DeepMind study highlights six major vulnerabilities of AI agents.
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