Oracle, the cloud company giant, is gearing up for its biggest layoffs in years, slashing up to 30,000 jobs. All this to bankroll a huge AI data centre push amid a funding freeze from US banks. This explosive news came from TD Cowen’s research note, cited by IT magazine CIO Dive, as Wall Street pulls the brakes on Oracle’s sky-high ambitions.
In the report, TD Cowen stated, “These steps come as multiple US banks have pulled back from Oracle-linked data-centre project lending.” These potential job cuts, which could affect nearly 20,000 to 30,000 employees, could save the company approximately $8 to $10 billion in cash. This money can be remarkably valuable for Oracle in the current scenario, following the bank’s statement that “both equity and debt investors have raised questions regarding Oracle’s ability to finance this buildout.”
These funds will then be redirected to Oracle’s efforts in building AI infrastructures. As of yet, there’s no official response from Oracle, but this gives us a look back in time when Amazon purged 16,000 jobs in the name of AI.
Cash-deficient Oracle is now pushing clients to foot bills, “bring your own infrastructure” (BYOB)demands prepayments, while “bring your own chip” (BYOC) shifts hardware costs to customers. In 2022, the company acquired Cerner for $28.3 billion and is now seriously considering selling it to plug financial bottlenecks.
Oracle’s betting big on AI amid hyperscaler rivalry with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. As Oracle’s US lenders are withdrawing, many Asia-based banks have come forth to fund the company’s AI infrastructure development by offering loans at spiked rates.
If the job slashes go ahead as planned, this will be Oracle’s largest layoff numbers in history. In 2025, Oracle laid off around 10,000 people at the initial stage of its restructuring plan. After Oracle’s Cerner acquisition, the latter has also experienced massive layoffs here and there. Though there has been no official statement from the tech giant as of yet, TD Cowen’s report hints at unhindered belt-tightening to save funds.
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