Oracle layoffs: 21,000 jobs cut, software giant trades human talent for AI tech amid the SaaSpocalypse

Oracle is spending big on AI, to the tune of 70 billion this year alone, in order to build data centers and AI-capable servers. But that AI expansion hasn’t come without a human cost. In its latest Form 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company revealed that it has cut tens of thousands of jobs over the past year to help fund its AI expansion. Here’s what you need to know. Oracle has cut 21,000 jobs in the past 12 months In the company’s annual 10-K filing, the SaaS and cloud computing giant revealed that as of May 2026, it had 141,000 full-time employees. Of those, 49,000 were employed in the United States, while the other 92,000 were employed internationally. While those numbers are significant, they represent a dramatic drop in Oracle’s workforce since its previous annual filing a year earlier. In that previous filing, Oracle stated it had 162,000 employees as of May 2025. That discrepancy—21,000—means that in just one year, Oracle cut around 13 of its workforce. And Oracle didn’t mince words regarding the motivating factors behind the layoffs. “The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,” the company stated. Oracle is not alone in cutting jobs to fund AI While Oracle plainly states that AI technologies have directly impacted its employee numbers, the company is far from the only US tech giant to have cut jobs due to AI. As Fast Company previously reported, numerous tech and AI giants, including Meta and Microsoft, have initiated layoffs or voluntary buyouts this year. These moves come as these and other tech giants have pledged to spend a combined 700 billion on building AI data centers and related technology in 2026. That massive capital expenditure has led these companies to look for other areas to reduce costs, and the fastest way for any company to do so is usually to cut workers. CNBC notes that AI was responsible for over 50,000 layoffs in 2025 alone. Ironically, Oracle openly admits that its layoff of human workers to further deploy AI technologies carries significant risk for the company in the form of “reduced productivity.” The company also notes, “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.” Still, the company’s 10-K states that it will continue to make “adjustments to our workforce” in the future. Oracle stock is in the red for 2026 While AI is all the rage in the tech industry, many on Wall Street have ongoing concerns about whether the massive capex companies have committed to will pay off down the road. Indeed, some worry that markets are currently in an AI-fueled bubble that is unsustainable and could pop. Those concerns have done nothing to help Oracle’s stock price (NYSE: ORCL) this year. Since the year began, ORCL shares have declined around 11. As of the time of this writing, ORCL sits at around 174 per share—well below its all-time high of more than 345 per share last September. Over the past 12 months, Oracle’s share price has performed even worse, falling by more than 16 since this time last year. During that same timeframe, the Dow has risen more than 21, the SP 500 more than 22, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq more than 31.