Oracle begins layoffs affecting thousands, CNBC reports

March 31 (Reuters) - Cloud computing firm Oracle ORCL.N is laying off thousands of employees, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Late on Tuesday, Oracle said it will lay off 491 employees working remotely in Washington state and at its Seattle offices effective June 1, according to a notice filed under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

The job cuts are part of a "reduction in force and other terminations," Oracle said, adding that its Seattle sites will remain open. The company had about 162,000 full-time employees globally as of May 2025.

The WARN Act requires employers to provide at least 60 days' notice ahead of layoffs.

Oracle declined to comment on the CNBC report, although several social media users on Reddit RDDT.N, X and anonymous workplace network Blind, shared details of the potential cuts, fuelling uncertainty and confusion among employees.

The layoffs come amid Oracle steps up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure in an effort to better compete with cloud rivals, such as Alphabet GOOGL.O and Amazon AMZN.O.

In a March filing, Oracle said it expects total costs tied to its fiscal 2026 restructuring plan to reach up to $2.1 billion, largely driven by employee severance and related expenses.

Shares in the company climbed more than 5% in afternoon trade, but remained down about 29% this year so far.

Meanwhile, more than 70 tech companies have cut around 40,480 jobs so far this year, per Layoffs.fyi, as companies increasingly reallocate resources toward AI, heightening fears of AI-driven disruptions among workers.

Last week, Meta laid off a few hundred employees across multiple teams, a source told Reuters. Earlier this month, Reuters had reported that Meta was planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce.