Oracle is cutting about 3,000 jobs in India, while Microsoft has put 400 to 500 India employees on performance plans, The Economic Times reported. The moves come as technology firms change their spending and hiring plans around AI and other priorities.
Pareekh Jain, CEO of research firm EIIRTrend, said the Microsoft employees represent about 2% of its India workforce. He said the performance plans are part of a wider global initiative at Microsoft.
Oracle’s India cuts come amid a wider reduction in its global workforce. Its headcount fell by 21,000, or 13%, in the fiscal year ended May 31. The company ended the year with about 141,000 employees.
Oracle said AI adoption and deployment contributed to the workforce decline. It also recorded $1.8 billion in restructuring charges during the year.
The charges were recorded under Oracle’s 2026 Restructuring Plan. The company expects total charges under the plan to reach up to $2.1 billion.
Oracle is also facing high costs from its fast expansion of AI data centres. Its capital spending reached $55.7 billion in fiscal 2026. That was up from $21.2 billion in the previous fiscal year.
The spending left Oracle with a cash outflow of $23.7 billion above the cash it generated. The company raised $43 billion from debt markets to help fund its costs. It also raised another $5 billion through a stock sale.
The latest cuts are wider than Oracle’s usual rolling job reductions. Some affected roles are in areas where AI may reduce future demand. However, financial pressure from the data centre buildout is the main driver, according to the report.
Oracle declined to comment on the latest layoffs. The company has continued to report strong demand for its cloud infrastructure despite the cuts.
Co-CEO Clay Magouyrk said demand for AI computing capacity had exceeded available supply. He made the comments during Oracle’s latest earnings call. He also cited $553 billion in contracted but unrecognised revenue.
Oracle reported 17% revenue growth in fiscal 2026. Its cloud infrastructure segment grew by 77% during the year.
Oracle shares rose about 5% after news of the layoffs emerged. The developments highlight the pressure on technology firms to fund AI growth while managing workforce costs.
