Oracle Layoffs, 12000 jobs cut- a management failure

BLOG 24/2026 DATED 9TH APRIL 2026

It is 6 AM in the morning of 31^st March 2026, a well paid IT professional gets up and as usual jumps over his mail box. He is not aware that he has already become a target for Oracle Layoffs 2026. The mail from the organization where he has worked half of his life reads as

“We are sharing some difficult news regarding your position. After careful consideration of Oracle business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last working day. We are grateful for your dedication, hard work and the impact you have made during your time with us. After signing your termination paperwork, you will be eligible to receive a severance package subject to the terms of the severance plan. You will receive an email from Docusign to your Oracle email address with details on your severance and termination date. “

(As per publicly available records)

The bomb has been already dropped and hit not only one or two but 12000 persons in India. IT hubs of India viz Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune etc are the centre of this attack. Oracle an international giant, a globally ranked 16^th by market cap, 3^rd/4^th biggest software company, decided to lay off around 30,000 employees worldwide and this is the beginning. Specifically, India where IT jobs are considered the most in demand, such layoffs will send tremors in IT industry.

This is not the first time that a big corporate has fired a bunch of employees. TCS, Google all did it. But the difference is the inhuman manner in which the strike has been carried out. Oracle chief Larry Ellison, the second richest person in the world says,

“I’m addicted to winning. The more you win, the more you want to win”.

Win at any cost. No problem, but the cost of your winning is borne by someone else. The cost that is born not only by the employees but the entire family and the persons dependent on the bread earner. It is reported that one of the unfortunate employees with 20 years with Oracle was battling with Cancer. The shocking job cuts will not spare anyone.

The employees who worked for years together in a Company and shared their fortunes with their organisation are fired without notice and surely with disdain. The disdain is in the sudden mail and its language.

The strong Oracle:

Oracle is a consistently profit-making organisation. A company which at least on paper not struggling to manage their finances. A brief show of their financial strength is as under:

With such robust disclosures where a company earns an annual net profits of USD  12.44 bn, having a net worth of USD 20.97 bn and with size of Balance Sheets as big as USD 168.36 bn,  if it behaves as if they are just going to die and to survive, they sacrifice 12000 strong work force, is out of the belief. There are many countries who do not have this GDP what Oracle enjoys as its balance sheet size. These profits, net worth and size of company are built by the efforts of humans who worked day and night to achieve this.

Worldwide IT industry is under AI innovations and job loss is an accepted catastrophe. If the Company has assessed certain risk in the industry and creating room for AI to take over humans, it should have alerted the employees, given them reasonable time to have a respectable exit from the organisation. It is also possible that to accommodate a group of the long serving employees, Company could have provided them training to adapt to the coming challenges. Company could also encourage their employees to start their own venture and Company becoming a partner in their new venture.

The Management failure:

Where are the rights of employees? Moreover, where are all management gurus from Harward, Oxford etc. and how they will term this management style?

I urge the top Business Schools to make this as a case study on the behaviour of the employers and discuss this in their management courses. We have enough discussions and guidelines on the ethical behaviour of the employee, but it is time to set right the ethical standards for employers. After all the main job of a management professional is to resolve a problem with balance and equity. To bomb the career of employees, you do not need management professionals.

We must understand that such mass layoffs and moreover inhuman way to get the employees out of the scene will not do any good to the behavioural aspects of the employees as well. I am not aware if Oracle was legally correct or not in behaving in such a manner, I am sure that such action can never be justified as a management principle.

Some novel methods to handle a situation where mass layoff is desirable:

• Give due notice to employees after duly explaining them the reasons for layoff. Offer them a golden handshake/voluntary retirement etc. This was very efficiently done by Indian Banking industry in early 2000s.
• Train a few selected employees who can be accommodated in the new set up.
• Company can even start a new venture making their employees as shareholders and ask them to run that organisation, if they wish to do so.
• Company can encourage the employees to start their own venture while company can be a partner with them.
• Company can also take up with other companies in the same industry to hire a few trained employees.

How IT professional can stay safe:

• Upskill in AI, cloud and innovative automation tools.
• Stay updated with Industry trend and certifications.
• Diversify skills beyond a single technology.
• Keep your mind business ready and develop your network accordingly.

Regulators and government must also see that such shocking mass layoffs do not pose a job market crisis. Anything can be achieved if the top management understands the humane aspects of management. If not, Management Institutes need to step in to drive this change by duly influencing the top management of business organisations (long term) and legal and compliance authorities to gear up to control such unprofessional behaviours (immediate).

Is this the initial attack of AI on human jobs or human values or is this something else? Your thoughts!

Author is a Management expert, a CFA (ICFAI) and an educator