Upcoming Oracle Layoffs to Cut 30,000 Jobs to Fuel AI Data Center Push

TLDR:

Oracle faces mounting pressure to cut costs and secure funding for its artificial intelligence data center expansion, with investment bank TD Cowen estimating potential job reductions of 20,000 to 30,000 employees that could generate $8 billion to $10 billion in cash flow.

Investment bank TD Cowen published a research note on January 29, 2026, detailing Oracle's financing hurdles for its AI data center projects amid retreats by U.S. banks from related lending.

The note outlines options for the Texas-based company, including workforce reductions of between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs to bolster cash reserves and potential sales of assets such as its health care software unit Cerner, which Oracle acquired for $28.3 billion in June 2022.

Oracle's commitments include a $300 billion, five-year contract with OpenAI that requires an estimated $156 billion in capital expenditures, contributing to total infrastructure pledges reaching $523 billion when factoring in deals with Meta and Nvidia. U.S. banks have withdrawn support for Oracle-linked data center leases, causing interest rate premiums on financing to double since September 2025 and stalling several negotiations with private operators.

"Multiple Oracle data-centre leases that were under negotiation with private operators struggled to secure financing, in turn preventing Oracle from securing the data-centre capacity via a lease," the TD Cowen report stated.

Oracle has raised $58 billion in debt over two months, including $38 billion for facilities in Texas and Wisconsin and $20 billion for a site in New Mexico, but faces widening credit default swap spreads that tripled in price during the final months of 2025.

Asian banks have begun providing loans at premium rates to gain exposure to AI infrastructure, while Oracle now requires 40% upfront deposits from new customers, excluding major AI clients, and explores "bring your own chip" arrangements to shift hardware costs.

Oracle leased 5.2 gigawatts of U.S. data center capacity for OpenAI workloads but has slowed procurement, with OpenAI redirecting near-term needs to Microsoft and Amazon.

"Both equity and debt investors have raised questions regarding Oracle’s ability to finance this buildout," the TD Cowen note added.

Oracle previously cut an estimated 10,000 jobs in late 2025 under a $1.6 billion restructuring plan and has reduced headcount at Cerner since the 2022 acquisition, including layoffs in 2023 following issues with a Veterans Affairs contract.