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Oracle layoffs: CFO rejects ‘doing more with less’ as Indian employees share job-loss pain
Oracle’s new finance chief reportedly used her first companywide meeting to tell employees that the company does not want them “doing more with less”, even as the technology giant continues to cut jobs while spending heavily on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Chief Financial Officer Hilary Maxson told employees on Tuesday they should be proud of the company’s financial results and protect that success as it grows, reported Business Insider, which reviewed the recording.
The remarks came a day after Oracle began a new round of layoffs, following cuts earlier this year. The company’s workforce declined by 21,000, or 13%, in the 2026 fiscal year that ended May 31, according to a recent filing
Oracle CFO: ‘I really, really don’t like’ doing more with less
“This means being thoughtful about where we spend our time and money,” Maxson said. “I don’t mean doing more with less, which is a phrase that I really, really don’t like. It means simplifying processes that don’t help customers and making clear choices on where we’re going to use our resources where they have the greatest impact.”
(AI-generated image)
Oracle is spending more and employing fewer
A fresh round of job cuts began on Monday. The day after, the new chief financial officer told staff the point was not to do more with less. Capital spending has more than tripled in a year.
Headcount fell from about 162,000 to about 141,000 in the year to May 31, per a regulatory filing
The deepest reduction in the company’s recent history
Against $8.5bn in the same quarter a year earlier
Data centres and AI capacity, per reports citing company disclosures
More than three times as much, quarter on quarter, going into data centres and AI capacity.
Restructuring costs came to about $1.8bn over the same period.
“I don’t mean doing more with less, which is a phrase that I really, really don’t like.”
Hilary Maxson, Oracle chief financial officer
Said at her first companywide meeting on September 15, a day after the latest cuts began. She went on to describe simplifying processes and choosing where resources have most impact. The remarks were internal: Business Insider obtained a recording. Neither she nor the other executives who spoke mentioned the layoffs.
Termination notices went out across the United States, India, Romania and the United Kingdom. Reported figures cluster around 30,000, but that is an estimate rather than a company number — TD Cowen put the range at 20,000 to 30,000.
Managers across divisions were asked to find savings, rather than cuts being aimed at one business unit.
The new round began on the Monday. Maxson addressed staff on the Tuesday without mentioning it.
Oracle has not given a global total for this week’s round, has not broken out India, and did not raise the cuts at the all-hands. Every India number in circulation comes from reporting and people familiar with internal planning, not from the company.
A developing story. Figures attributed to Oracle come from regulatory filings; everything else is reporting and is labelled as such. Estimates vary between outlets.
Sources: Oracle regulatory filings; Business Insider; Quartz; TD Cowen via CIO. September 2026.
Oracle has racked up tens of billions of dollars in debt as it expands its data centres and AI infrastructure. The latest workforce cuts are intended to reduce payroll to offset those costs, according to a person familiar with the strategy.
Oracle reported $28.5 billion in first-quarter capital expenditures, up from $8.5 billion a year earlier, and maintained its fiscal 2027 capital expenditure forecast at $90 billion to $95 billion.
Neither Maxson nor other executives addressed the layoffs directly during the roughly hour-long town hall, according to Business Insider. Instead, they repeatedly emphasised growth, customer demand and the opportunities created by artificial intelligence.
“I’d ask you to keep asking a very simple question: How does the work that I’m doing help deliver a better outcome for a customer?” Co-CEO Mike Sicilia said, suggesting a mantra as Oracle starts its second quarter.
“There’s a lot of change around this, a lot going on in the world, and in moments like this, how we work together and how we show up for our customers and for each other matters most.”
‘12 years, many sacrifices & a locked login’: Wife’s LinkedIn post captures pain of layoffs
As Oracle employees deal with the latest cuts, emotional accounts of sudden job losses have emerged on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
In a post cited by news agency PTI, Pooja Sahu said her husband, Sourabh, was among those affected after 12 years at Oracle.
He had worked through Holi and Diwali, birthdays and anniversaries, stayed on call during vacations and even logged in from a hospital while his wife underwent surgery, she said.
The most painful part, perhaps, was finding out he had lost his job when he could no longer log into his work system.
“This post is for everyone who works day and night to provide for their families, especially amid visa uncertainty, yet still gives their best every day,” she wrote.
Sahu’s account is among a wave of emotional posts that have surfaced on social media in recent hours about the latest job cuts at Oracle, with employees, their relatives and friends sharing accounts of sudden exits, uncertainty and careers suddenly upended, PTI reported.
The individuals concerned could not be reached immediately, and the personal accounts shared by family members and friends could not be independently verified.
Oracle layoffs: What happened on September 14?
The outpouring of posts came as Oracle began a fresh round of job cuts as part of a broader restructuring. Affected employees were reportedly informed on September 14 that their roles were being axed, PTI reported.
The number of global employees affected in the latest round has not been disclosed. There is also no official geography-wise breakdown of the eliminations.
An email query sent to Oracle for comments did not elicit a reply, PTI reported.
India employees turn to LinkedIn for jobs and referrals
Oracle has a significant India footprint, including product engineering teams, support functions and development teams. PTI reported that industry watchers fear India could be hit hard by Oracle’s latest round of layoffs, with some media reports pegging the impact in thousands. However, there is no official figure available for the number of Indian employees affected in the latest round.
One LinkedIn user wrote: “With a heavy heart, I’m writing to share that I have been impacted by the recent layoffs at Oracle.”
Annanya Sharma, who said she joined Oracle as a campus recruit and spent more than seven years at the company, said she was grappling with “why me” questions following the layoff but was ready to move forward and explore new opportunities.
“I would truly appreciate the support of my network – whether it’s sharing relevant opportunities, connecting me with someone who may be hiring, or simply pointing me in the right direction,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post.
In another post, Shivananda Shenoy said he learnt at 6:50 am that his position had been made redundant as part of ongoing organisational changes.
“Today is one of those days you never really expect,” he said and described the news as difficult to process, but said he was looking ahead and exploring new career opportunities and the next direction in his career.
AI spending and the pressure on tech jobs
Oracle’s latest layoffs come as technology companies increase spending on AI infrastructure while restructuring their workforces. The rapid adoption of AI has fuelled fears of widespread job losses across the technology industry, as companies increasingly automate tasks, deploy AI agents and reshape their workforce mix around new technologies.
For Oracle, the challenge is particularly visible in its sharply higher capital spending. The company reported $28.5 billion in first-quarter capital expenditures, compared with $8.5 billion a year earlier, while maintaining its fiscal 2027 capital expenditure forecast at $90 billion to $95 billion.
(With inputs from agencies)