Oracle layoffs: 21,000 jobs cut, software giant trades human talent for AI tech amid the SaaSpocalypse

Oracle is spending big on AI, to the tune of $70 billion this year alone, in order to build data centers and AI-capable servers. But that AI expansion hasn’t come without a human cost. In its latest Form 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company revealed that it has cut tens of thousands of jobs over the past year to help fund its AI expansion. Here’s what you need to know. Oracle has cut 21,000 jobs in the past 12 months In the company’s annual 10-K filing, the SaaS and cloud computing giant revealed that as of May 2026, it had 141,000 full-time employees. Of those, 49,000 were employed in the United States, while the other 92,000 were employed internationally. While those numbers are significant, they represent a dramatic drop in Oracle’s workforce since its previous annual filing a year earlier. In that previous filing, Oracle stated it had 162,000 employees as of May 2025. That discrepancy—21,000—means that in just one year, Oracle cut around 13% of its workforce. And Oracle didn’t mince words regarding the motivating factors behind the layoffs. “The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,” the company stated. Oracle is not alone in cutting jobs to fund AI While Oracle plainly states that AI technologies have directly impacted its employee numbers, the company is far from the only US tech giant to have cut jobs due to AI. As Fast Company previously reported, numerous tech and AI giants, including Meta and Microsoft, have initiated layoffs or voluntary buyouts this year. These moves come as these and other tech giants have pledged to spend a combined $700 billion on building AI data centers and related technology in 2026. That massive capital expenditure has led these companies to look for other areas to reduce costs, and the fastest way for any company to do so is usually to cut workers. CNBC notes that AI was responsible for ov