- Oracle now has around 141,000 workers, down from 162,000 in 12 months
- The company spent $1.84 billion in severance and related costs last year
- Billions to be raised by means of new debt and equity to fund AI plans
Despite recently confirming record revenues of $67.4 billion in its just-closed fiscal year, marking a 17% rise, Oracle has laid off an estimated 21,000 workers during that same 12-month period.
The company confirmed it had around 141,000 workers on the books as of 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 around 15% in one year largely due to concerns over massive AI-driven capex.
Inside Oracle’s massive AI strategy
In a filing, the company noted that the layoffs had been impacted by various factors, including management and product changes, performance issues, other strategic shifts and business acquisitions. But AI also got its fair share of the blame, both directly and indirectly through shifting company priorities and improving internal efficiency.
During the year, Oracle spent an estimated $1.84 billion on severance packages, restructuring and other employee costs, marking a huge increase over the $374 million it spent on restructuring during the previous year.
But that’s nothing compared to how much the hyperscaler plans to spend in capex this coming year – most of the $70 billion projection will be allocated toward data centers and other cloud infrastructure.
The biggest risk that investors worry about could be this funding’s source though, because current plans include raising around $40 billion if it through new debt and equity instead of operating cash flow. Around $20 billion will likely come from stock issuance (per Reuters) – the company is currently worth an estimated $503.5 billion.
However, recent high-profile deals with the likes of OpenAI and Meta also speak volumes about confidence in the company from a customer point of view.
All of this while generating electricity via higher-cost natural gas fuel cells “with minimal emissions,” as the company stated in its fourth-quarter release.
