Oracle Is Planning a New Round of Layoffs in August — Business Insider

Oracle has drawn up a plan for a new round of layoffs to cut personnel costs, even as it takes on billions in debt to build out its AI infrastructure, Business Insider reports, citing sources and an internal document.

According to the document, layoffs in some teams could reach double-digit percentages. Managers were asked to compile lists of employees to be laid off in order to reduce payroll costs by the start of the second quarter—which begins on September 1—one of the sources said. Oracle declined to comment on the matter.

During fiscal year 2026, which ended on May 31, Oracle’s workforce had already shrunk by 21,000 employees, or 13%, partly due to layoffs. According to the company’s own figures, it currently has 141,000 employees.

Oracle is looking for ways to cut costs while borrowing tens of billions of dollars to build data centers and purchase chips. In the last fiscal year, the company invested $55.7 billion in infrastructure, which resulted in a negative free cash flow. It borrowed $43 billion and raised another $5 billion from the sale of shares, and in the current fiscal year, it expects to raise an additional $40 billion or so through the same methods, according to Business Insider.

Oracle attributes these expenses to growing demand: over the past fiscal year, revenue from cloud infrastructure increased by 77%, to $18.1 billion. Building data centers and purchasing equipment require massive investments—this is a significant shift for Oracle, which built its business on selling database software, the publication notes.

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison claimed in March that the “software apocalypse” would be a problem for other companies, but not for Oracle. Despite Ellison’s attempt to reassure investors, the stock has already fallen by a quarter in 2026. Wall Street is concerned about the rapid rise in infrastructure spending. The drop in stock prices may also reflect fears that AI solutions will replace traditional software, according to Business Insider.

Oracle shares closed the main trading session on August 11 in New York down 3.7% at $145.50 each, although they subsequently recovered 1.6% in after-hours trading. Most analysts maintain a positive outlook on the stock: the consensus among 44 experts is “Buy” (Buy), and the average price target of $247 implies a 70% increase in the share price, according to S&P data cited by MarketScreener.

On August 11, Oracle and Quantinuum, one of the largest developers of quantum computers, announced a multi-year partnership that will provide customers of the Oracle Cloud Platform with access to quantum computing, according to Reuters. Quantinuum was formed in 2021 through the merger of a Honeywell division and the British company Cambridge Quantum.

In the coming months, Oracle will release a preview version of the service. It will combine Quantinuum’s tools with open-source software platforms and allow developers to create and test applications that use both quantum and classical computing, the agency notes.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor