Thousands of workers received an email from a corporation at six in the morning. All that was written in the message was that they were being let go.
About 300 workers were impacted in this round, according to PTI. It may sound startling, but this is precisely what transpired with Oracle personnel. Nearly 12,000 people are apparently affected in India, where the impact has been greatest, and there are signs that additional names may be added to the list.
The emotional toll of these layoffs was addressed in a Reddit post that went viral. One individual revealed that their father had been employed by the same management at Oracle for 20 years. There was only an email, not even a phone call. The user questioned how businesses could be so callous, particularly in light of their father’s cancer battle and lack of health insurance. The post received a lot of attention after being published on the Oracle employees’ subreddit, even though this assertion hasn’t been officially confirmed.
This poses a crucial question: why were so many workers abruptly let go? The company’s growing investment in AI could be one explanation. Companies like Amazon, TCS, and Wipro have seen similar patterns.
The chairman of Oracle recently declared that they would not be affected by the alleged “apocalypse” in software engineering, which makes this even more unexpected. But soon after, a single email resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of workers.
Is losing a job now so simple? Are Indian IT employment in jeopardy? What what is going on with Oracle?
Let’s dissect it. Greetings, you are reading Business Connect Magazine. My name is Anurag Tiwari.
Oracle announced widespread layoffs on March 31. At six in the morning, thousands of workers got an email informing them that their jobs were being terminated. The email stated that as part of a significant organizational restructuring, Oracle had chosen to eliminate some positions in light of its business requirements. That day would therefore be their last day of employment. Business Insider reported this, and other staff members posted screenshots online.
Additionally, the corporation said that severance benefits will be given, albeit it’s yet unclear who would get them and how much. There were earlier signs of restructuring, so the layoffs are not abrupt.
Up till May 2025, Oracle employs about 162,000 people in India. Although the precise number of layoffs has not been made public by the corporation, PTI sources indicate that approximately 12,000 workers in India alone were impacted. There will likely be another round of layoffs.
Why is this happening?
First, Oracle is changing the way it operates. The corporation is shifting away from traditional software operations and toward artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure. Oracle used to specialize in selling software that operated on its servers. However, the corporation is constructing new data centers and increasing computer capacity to serve AI models, which demand sophisticated computing resources, as the globe moves toward cloud and AI. Jobs will be lost as a result of this enormous investment in AI, which lessens the necessity for human work. AI might eventually take over even more human jobs.
It’s interesting to note that Larry Ellison, the founder and chairman of Oracle, recently said that while AI might upend the software sector, Oracle is not in danger. Additionally, CEO Mike Sicilia stressed that improper adoption of AI could pose a risk. In essence, Oracle is embracing AI so quickly that it doesn’t worry about disruption.
Thousands of workers are being laid off via email, despite Oracle’s promises that it is protected from AI disruption.
This is not exclusive to Oracle. In the Indian IT industry, the trend is pervasive. Even in the first half of 2025, companies including as TCS, Wipro, HCL, and Tech Mahindra lay off more than 25,000 workers. Instead of typical layoffs, this suggests a fundamental change. The conventional outsourcing paradigm in India is evolving.
Companies overhired during the COVID-19 pandemic, and investor pressure now calls for efficiency—using AI to accomplish more with fewer workers. Indian IT service companies have eliminated almost 80,000 positions in the last 18 months. By March 2026, TCS intends to lose 12,200 posts; Infosys terminated around 26,000 people in 2024; Wipro deleted 24,516 positions; and Tech Mahindra eliminated more than 21,000 positions in 2025. The majority of impacted workers were mid- to senior-level IT specialists who were unable to keep up with AI-driven workflows.
This changes how work is done in the IT industry in addition to decreasing employment. This is a crucial issue because millions of people in India depend on IT jobs. The layoffs demonstrate how important it is to reskill and upgrade skills, particularly in AI. Coding, data input, and other traditional backend occupations are particularly risky.
In order for students to graduate with AI aptitude and be prepared for any professional field—HR, legal, finance, accounting, or technology—experts recommend incorporating AI learning into India’s primary and secondary school.
Have you witnessed others lose their employment as a result of AI? How do you feel about this change? Post your opinions in the comments section.
