Oracle lays off thousands of employees:System access shut down at 4 am; email arrived at 6 am – today is your last day

Tech company Oracle has started laying off employees again. The company has dismissed thousands of employees in the US. The decision has also created uncertainty among employees at Oracle’s Development Centre in India. The company is increasing investment in AI and cloud infrastructure, for which budgets are being cut from traditional departments. However, Oracle has not yet officially disclosed how many employees in India will lose their jobs. VPN and Slack access being shut off before email According to a report by Business Insider, employees’ system access is shut off even before they receive official information about the layoffs. As part of the layoff process, employees lose access to the VPN and their Slack accounts are disconnected. They are then informed by email of their dismissal by around 6 a.m. Employees said-the layoff process is extremely harsh… 21,000 employees have already been laid off Oracle has laid off around 13% of its total workforce, or 21,000 employees, this year. As of 31 May 2026, a total of 1.41 lakh employees were working at the company. The layoffs in the US on 14 September make it clear that the company’s restructuring is continuing. These Departments Are Being Hit the Hardest This time, employees are not being laid off because of poor performance; instead, the company is changing its priorities. As a result, even employees who have been with the company for years and have performed exceptionally well are being let go. These departments are being hit the hardest: If these layoffs also begin in India, the impact will not be limited to customer care or support staff; technical and engineering teams will also be affected. Layoffs Had Also Taken Place in India Earlier This Year Earlier this year, in March and April, Oracle India had laid off a large number of employees. According to reports, around 12,000 employees lost their jobs at the time. However, the company did not officially confirm this. Old Work Discontinued, New Jobs in AI and Data Centres While Oracle is removing employees from older departments, it is also hiring in new areas such as AI and data centres. The company is now focusing primarily on infrastructure, strengthening networks, building data centres and new technologies such as AI. What Impact Could This Have on India? Concerns have also grown among employees working in India following the layoffs in the United States on 14 September. As the company rapidly winds down work on older software and shifts towards AI, employees’ roles in India could also change.