Oracle Just Laid Off 30,000 Employees With One 6am Email And You’ll Never Guess Why

But I’d still like you to try. No, please. I’ll wait. Go ahead, guess… No. Wrong. Fine, I’ll just tell you.

It’s AI, but not in the way you think.

Because there’s a trend lately of tech companies laying off people in droves and then saying it’s because they’ve been replaced by AI. Whilst this seems cold to us humans, for tech CEOs you appear to be tech-forward and pro-AI, increasing your perceived value to investors when you are in fact downsizing.

Because the truth is normally that AI is a smoke screen for mismanagement and poor sales requiring redundancies. For example Jack Dorsey’s ‘Block’ fired a bunch of people and claimed it was because of AI when really they just overhired during COVID but wanted to look tech-forward to investors.

In the case of Oracle it’s a little different because the company is in the process of upscaling its business, specifically in the AI sector. “According to analysis from TD Cowen, the job cuts are expected to free up between $8 billion and $10 billion in cash flow, money the company urgently needs to fund a massive buildout of AI data centers.”

And there it is.

It’s OK, you’re not being replaced by AI, you’re being replaced to make way for AI.

Completely different.

Not that that’s any consolation for those who’ve lost their jobs. 30,000 people across America, Europe and India who had to wake up to a cold email saying you’ve been let go. That’s not the way to do it, guys, have some self respect.

So let’s here it from just a small fraction of those affected. These are all from Reddit:

u/TattoosAndBeers: “My dad has worked for Oracle for 20 years, worked for the same boss for 20 years. Not even a phone call. These companies are evil What is he supposed to do for the next 2 years? Keep in mind, he has cancer and now he has no health insurance.”

u/PossibleElectrical13: “I was also laid off after almost 5 years, but it was yesterday. My, now former, manager had scheduled a call last Friday for a “quick catch up” where he told me the news. Oracle had transferred me to Canada from the U.S. 6 months ago. Now my family and I are alone and jobless and with immigration uncertainty. At least we had one last call before I was locked out of everything.”

u/seesitesound: “I was with Oracle for 26 years, and got the email at 6am. That they didn’t bother to do a phone call is disgusting, cowardly, and just plain ugly. I loved my time at Oracle – up until September, 2025, when I was moved to a different team in my org. Still doing the same thing (which I loved), plus new stuff (which I didn’t). New manager.

Once there was talk of RIFs, my manager (a VP – I was M5), FREAKED out – going on and on about losing his job, polishing up his resume, etc. etc.

I realized then that he wouldn’t hesitate to put me on the list to save himself, which is what happened. I have no idea the impact of the rest of his team, but I suspect that because I was new to that team, they went with last in, first out. Everyone else had worked for him for a number of years.

None of them know what I did despite trying to share the load – I still gave updates to my previous manager. New manager literally did not give a shit, and his team was the least welcoming group I’ve ever worked with.

It’s easier to lay blame on one person, right or wrong, and I blame him. I wish him discomfort every day of his life moving forward, and that he never knows a moment’s peace. I will be fine. I’m so, so sad. But I’ll be fine.

Also, sidebar: I always kind of vaguely understood that Larry Ellison was not a good guy. But recent months have driven home what a truly bad person he is.”