- Oracle now has around 141,000 workers, up from 162,000 in 12 months
- The company spent $1.84 billion on severance and related costs last year.
- Billions to be raised through new debt and equity to fund AI plans
Despite recently confirming record revenue of $67.4 billion in its just-closed fiscal year, up 17%, Oracle has laid off about 21,000 workers during that same 12-month period.
The company confirmed it had around 141,000 workers on its books in May 2026, but when it made the same report last year, it had around 162,000 employees.
However, despite record revenue and drastic cost-cutting measures, share prices are down about 15% in a year, largely due to concerns about huge AI-driven capital spending.
Inside Oracle’s massive AI strategy
In a filing, the company said the layoffs had been affected by several factors, including management and product changes, performance issues, other strategic changes and business acquisitions. But AI also had a fair share of the blame, both directly and indirectly by changing company priorities and improving internal efficiency.
During the year, Oracle spent approximately $1.84 billion on severance packages, restructuring and other employee costs, a huge increase from the $374 million it spent on restructuring during the prior year.
But that’s nothing compared to how much the hyperscaler plans to spend on capital expenditures next year: Most of the $70 billion projection will be allocated to data centers and other cloud infrastructure.
However, the biggest risk worrying investors could be the source of this financing, because current plans include raising around $40 billion through new debt and equity rather than operating cash flow. Around $20 billion is likely to come from equity issuance (e.g. PakGazette) – the company is currently worth an estimated $503.5 billion.
However, recent high-profile deals with companies like OpenAI and Meta also speak volumes about trust in the company from a customer point of view.
All this while generating electricity through higher-cost natural gas fuel cells “with minimal emissions,” as the company stated in its fourth-quarter statement.
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