Oracle cuts 500+ jobs in Romania amid AI-focused restructuring

Oracle announced a new round of layoffs affecting roughly 526 employees at its Bucharest operation, marking the second wave of reductions in Romania within a year. The cuts are part of a global restructuring program that has seen the company eliminate about 21,000 jobs worldwide as it refocuses on cloud services and artificial‑intelligence offerings. Employees were notified by individual email messages and offered severance packages of one month's salary for each year of service plus additional compensation.

Romanian management analyst Doru Șupeală disputes Oracle's stated AI‑driven rationale, arguing the real motive is to free up salary funds for large‑scale data‑center investments needed for future AI applications. He characterises the company's explanation as an "AI‑washing" tactic and notes that CEO Larry Ellison has struggled to secure bank financing for these projects. The layoffs follow a prior reduction of around 400 positions in Romania last year and reflect Oracle's broader effort to reshape its workforce as it invests in AI‑related infrastructure.