Oracle employees are bracing for another possible round of layoffs as the company approaches September 1, the opening day of its fiscal second quarter. Managers were asked to submit lists of employees whose roles could be eliminated, with the reported target of reducing payroll by September 1.
Business Insider first reported the plan, citing people familiar with it and an internal document. Reductions on some teams could reach double-digit percentages. Oracle declined to comment and has not publicly confirmed the reported plans.
Employees now expect layoff emails to arrive on the morning of September 1, given how Oracle handled its previous round of cuts.
On March 31, thousands of Oracle employees in the US, India, Canada and Mexico received emails from ‘Oracle Leadership’ at roughly 6 AM local time. The message said that after careful consideration of Oracle's current business needs, the company had decided to eliminate their roles as part of a broader organizational change. It also stated that the day of notification would be their last working day.
Employees received severance information via DocuSign after signing termination paperwork. System access was revoked the same morning, with no HR call or manager conversation.
The uncertainty around September 1 has also spread across Reddit. The r/employeesOfOracle forum, which draws 52,000 visitors, has run a ‘probable layoff’ megathread through August.
Employees are discussing several possible dates, including September 15, September 24, and September 25. Some pointed to a September 15 town hall, while employees at Fusion IDC noted that several M4 and M6 managers took leave from August 24 through September 1.
None of these dates are confirmed. Earlier patterns suggest quarterly town halls often precede cuts, while rumors typically begin two to three weeks before layoffs. Labor laws also mean there may not be one global layoff date.
Restricted stock units remain another concern for Oracle engineers. Unvested RSUs are forfeited when an employee leaves the company.
A survey of 272 workers affected by the March cuts found that 27% had stock scheduled to vest within 90 days. One laid-off senior manager said 70% of his compensation came through RSUs and that he was four months away from USD 1 million in vesting.
Oracle's headcount fell by about 21,000 in the fiscal year ended May 31, roughly 13% of its workforce. Employee numbers dropped from around 162,000 to about 141,000, including roughly 49,000 in the US.
Restructuring costs rose to USD 1.8 billion from USD 374 million a year earlier, while Oracle's FY2026 restructuring plan was expected to cost USD 2.1 billion.
At the same time, capital expenditure reached USD 55.7 billion in FY2026, up from USD 21.2 billion a year earlier, largely for AI data centers. Oracle also raised USD 43 billion in debt and USD 5 billion in equity, and expects to raise about USD 40 billion more this year.
Despite the cost pressures, FY2026 revenue rose 17% to USD 67.4 billion, cloud infrastructure revenue grew 77%, and remaining performance obligations reached USD 638 billion.
For employees awaiting September 1, the biggest uncertainty now remains the timing of any email.