Oracle May Cut Up to 30,000 Jobs to Fund AI Data Centers
- ByStartupStory | February 2, 2026
Oracle is reportedly planning to slash 20,000 to 30,000 jobs – its largest workforce reduction in recent history – alongside potential asset sales to generate $8-10 billion in cash flow for aggressive AI data center expansion.
Financing Crunch Hits OpenAI Buildout
Investment bank TD Cowen highlights Oracle’s $156 billion capital needs over five years, including 3 million GPUs for OpenAI and customers like Meta, NVIDIA, and xAI. US banks have retreated from financing data center leases, forcing cost measures after $58 billion debt accumulation and a 50%+ stock drop since September 2025.
Restructuring Follows Prior Layoffs
The potential cuts exceed Oracle’s late 2025 reduction of 10,000 roles in a $1.6 billion restructuring. Additional strategies include selling the $28.3 billion Cerner healthcare unit, shifting costs via “bring your own chip” models, and raising $45-50 billion in 2026 for cloud capacity amid Big Tech’s AI infrastructure arms race.
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