Oracle Lays Off Up to 30,000 Employees While Petitioning to Hire Over 3,000 H-1B Foreign Workers
Tens of thousands of Oracle employees woke up to an email on Tuesday signaling it was their last work day. The email, signed by “Oracle Leadership,” informed workers that their roles had been eliminated effective immediately. Between 20,000 and 30,000 employees were estimated to be impacted, roughly 18 percent of Oracle’s workforce.
At around the same time, the company petitioned U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to hire roughly 3,126 foreign workers through H-1B worker visas for the fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Oracle is run by billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison, who acts as executive chairman and CTO.
Ellison is the sixth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of more than $200 billion. Oracle had net operating revenues of more than $57 billion in 2025.
Oracle isn’t the only multi-billion company offloading tens of thousands of domestic jobs to foreign applicants and AI. Amazon slashed 16,000 jobs in January, following a 14,000 mass firing of workers in October. The company also petitioned to hire 2,675 foreign H-1B visa workers between the 2025 and 2026 fiscal periods.
Amazon is one of the most profitable companies in the world, bringing in net revenues of more than $716 billion in 2025. Jeff Bezos, executive chairman and former president and CEO of Amazon, is the fourth richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than $239 billion as of 2025.
Meta is also planning sweeping layoffs this year that could impact 15,000 workers, more than 20 percent of the company’s workforce, as the company ramps up AI efforts. Meta, which brought in more than $200 billion in operating revenues in 2025, plans to spend up to $135 billion in 2026 on AI in an effort to replace workers.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Meta, is ranked as the fifth wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of more than $220 billion.