Oracle layoffs: India sees fresh round of cuts, product engineering hit hardest

Oracle has begun another round of layoffs in India, with product engineering teams reportedly facing the deepest impact. According to the MoneyControl report, thousands of Indian jobs could ultimately be affected, but the final figure remains unconfirmed.

Oracle has started another round of job cuts in India, with employees receiving termination notices as the company pushes ahead with a wider cost-reduction exercise. The latest action follows layoffs that began in the US on September 14 and comes at a time when Oracle is committing tens of billions of dollars to data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The full scale of the latest India exercise has not been established. Moneycontrol reported that product engineering teams appear to have absorbed a larger share of the cuts, while support and consulting functions have seen fewer reductions. Some senior employees in Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS) teams outside India have also reportedly been affected.

Earlier internal estimates had suggested that roughly 3,000 employees in India could eventually be impacted. Globally, estimates circulating within the company put the latest round at between 7,000 and 10,000 roles, although those figures remain unconfirmed. Moneycontrol also reported that Oracle's global headcount had fallen by an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 over the weekend leading into September 15.

The phased nature of the exercise has added to uncertainty over whether further notices will follow. MoneyControl reports, this is not the end of job cuts at Oracle, there will be more in the coming days.

The latest reductions come after a much larger workforce contraction over Oracle's financial year ended May 31. The company disclosed that its workforce declined by about 21,000 during that period, leaving approximately 141,000 full-time employees worldwide. And during that wave, India had also suffered a major chunk of job cuts.

Why is Oracle cutting jobs?

Oracle's latest restructuring is unfolding alongside a sharp expansion in spending on cloud computing and AI infrastructure. In its first quarter of fiscal 2027, the company reported capital expenditure of $28.5 billion, compared with $8.5 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. Oracle has maintained a full-year capital expenditure outlook of $90 billion to $95 billion.

The spending is being driven largely by demand for AI-related cloud capacity. Oracle said it secured more than $30 billion in additional AI cloud contracts during the quarter, taking its remaining performance obligations to $664 billion. Cloud infrastructure revenue rose 121 per cent year on year to $7.4 billion, while total revenue increased 30 per cent to $19.3 billion.

The contrast between strong demand and heavy infrastructure spending helps explain the backdrop to the restructuring, although Oracle has not publicly attributed the latest India layoffs to any single factor. The company is expanding capacity rapidly while simultaneously attempting to control costs and align its workforce with changing business priorities.