Oracle shed 21,000 jobs over the past year, with its workforce dropping from approximately 162,000 in June 2025 to 141,000 by June 2026, according to the company’s annual report. U.S. headcount fell by 9,000, while international staff declined by 12,000. Oracle acknowledged that AI deployment has driven workforce reductions and warned further restructuring is possible. The company is aggressively investing in AI datacenter expansion, with previous layoff estimates ranging between 20,000 and 30,000. Oracle cautioned the cuts risk damaging productivity, morale, and institutional knowledge.
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Annual report reveals workforce fell from 162,000 to 141,000 in a year as company pours billions into datacenter expansion
Oracle’s workforce shrank by 21,000 over the last year, according to the company’s annual report.
In June 2025 [PDF], Big Red reported that it employed “approximately 162,000” employees. By June 2026 [PDF], that figure had fallen to 141,000. US headcount fell by 9,000, while the international workforce declined by 12,000.
“Our periodic workforce restructurings and reorganizations can be disruptive,” Oracle stated. “Deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce.”
“We may initiate new restructuring plans in the future,” it added, ominously.
Reports of layoffs at Oracle have circulated in recent months as the company seeks to finance its AI datacenter build-out. Estimates have ranged from 20,000 to 30,000, while the annual report reveals that its workforce shrank by approximately 21,000 over the last year.
Oracle spelled out the effect on the company and remaining staff, stateing: “These types of restructurings have resulted, and may in the future result, in increased restructuring costs and reduced productivity. These types of restructurings may also lead to shortages of sufficiently skilled employees in certain roles, loss of valuable institutional knowledge and damage to employee morale and retention.”
The company is legally obliged to highlight the risks in these reports, but it’s a point worth building.
“As our cloud and AI businesses grow, we will continually balance our resources and restructure our development group to assist ensure we have the right people delivering the best cloud and AI products to our customers around the world,” the company declared in response to The Register’s request for comment.
Big Red is hardly alone in laying off staff as companies roll out AI technologies, spconclude billions on infrastructure for the tech, and seek to improve the bottom line by cutting payroll. Microsoft has laid off thousands of workers in the last year, something CEO Satya Nadella declared was “weighing heavily on me.” Nonetheless, in April, the company offered a voluntary departure program to some US employees.
Microsoft has not confirmed how many staffers have taken the option to depart, but one commented: “Seeing a lot of ‘I’m accepting the retirement’ posts this week,” to which another responded: “Folks leaving behind some huge shoes to fill.”
All of which highlights one cost of layoffs for companies. For affected staff, the experience can be traumatic, even when departure is voluntary, but the loss of institutional knowledge can be difficult to quantify. ®
