For Oracle employees, 2026 has been a year of uncertainty. The warning signs can come before the layoff email itself: VPN access suddenly disappears, Slack accounts are disconnected and, by around 6 am, an email from leadership lands in the inbox, according to a report by Business Insider.
As Oracle begins another major round of job cutsemployees in India are now watching closely for signs that the restructuring could move to the country next.
Oracle has begun a fresh wave of layoffs in the US as the technology giant redirects billions of dollars towards artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and data-centre infrastructure.
The company has not publicly disclosed how many employees are affected in the latest round, but employee reports and estimates circulating online suggest that several thousand positions could be eliminated.
The bigger concern for India is what comes next. Following the September 14 layoffs in the US, employee discussions have pointed to the possibility of another round of cuts across Oracle’s India Development Centre (IDC). However, Oracle has not confirmed an India-specific layoff plan or the number of jobs that could be affected.
INDIA HAS ALREADY SEEN A MAJOR ROUND OF CUTS
The latest uncertainty comes months after Oracle’s earlier restructuring in India. Reports around the March-April layoffs put the impact on the company’s Indian workforce at widely different levels.
Some reports estimated that up to 12,000 jobs could be affected, although the figure could not be independently verified. Other reports put the number of affected employees significantly lower.
The earlier round was reported to have hit Oracle’s India development centres, with roles affected across Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Engineering, data-centre operations, AI/ML and customer support were among the functions reported to have faced cuts.
The possibility of another round therefore comes at a particularly sensitive time for Oracle’s Indian workforce, which has already gone through a significant restructuring this year.
WHICH ROLES COULD BE AT RISK?
Employee discussions online have provided some indication of the scale of the latest cuts. A thread on the r/employeesOfOracle subreddit reportedly drew more than 300 comments within hours, as workers shared details of affected teams. Employees also claimed that thousands of Slack accounts disappeared, though this has not been independently verified.
The layoffs reportedly span technical, engineering, sales and support roles, including OCI security, enterprise engineering, observability, Fusion, NetSuite sales, Oracle Health, HR Technology and data-centre compliance.
Employees linked to Oracle’s Stargate-related operations in Abilene, Texas, have also reportedly been affected.
Some workers said they were laid off despite strong performance ratings and years of service, underscoring that the latest restructuring appears to be driven by broader organisational and business priorities rather than individual performance alone.
If the restructuring extends to India, the range of affected roles could similarly go beyond conventional support functions and include both technical and professional teams.
ORACLE IS CUTTING WHILE HIRING FOR AI AND DATA CENTRES
At the heart of the restructuring is a major shift in where Oracle is putting its money. The company has been increasing its hiring focus in areas including data-centre construction, power infrastructure, network reliability, mechanical engineering, AI/ML, AI data-centre delivery, demand planning and data-centre operations.
The message is becoming increasingly clear: Oracle is attempting to reduce spending in some parts of its workforce while expanding capacity in areas considered critical to the AI economy.
Oracle has increased its estimated restructuring costs by $700 million, taking the total to around $2.8 billion. At the same time, the company expects capital expenditure of roughly $90 billion-$95 billion this fiscal year as it expands AI and cloud infrastructure.
The company is also facing the financial pressure associated with building massive data centres and procuring specialised hardware for AI workloads.
ORACLE HAS ALREADY CUT 21,000 JOBS
The latest layoffs follow a dramatic reduction in Oracle’s global workforce. Oracle had about 141,000 employees as of May 31, 2026, after reducing its workforce by roughly 21,000 employees, or 13%, during fiscal 2026.
The September cuts therefore represent another stage in a broader restructuring rather than an isolated workforce reduction.
For employees, the contrast is striking: while thousands of jobs are being eliminated, Oracle is simultaneously spending tens of billions of dollars to build the infrastructure needed to support the next generation of AI services.
SO, IS INDIA NEXT?
For now, the answer remains uncertain. The September 14 layoffs in the US are the clearest indication yet that Oracle’s restructuring is continuing, but there is no official confirmation that India will be included in the latest wave, nor has the company disclosed how many Indian employees could be affected.
As Oracle shifts its focus towards AI, cloud and data-centre infrastructure, employees in India will be watching closely to see whether the company’s global restructuring brings fresh opportunities or another wave of job losses.
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