Oracle cut thousands of jobs. It also filed over 3,100 H-1B visa petitions, including 436 this year alone

On March 31, Oracle employees were met with an unexpected and disheartening email announcing their job eliminations as part of a broader organizational restructuring. The message cited a careful reassessment of the company's business needs as the reason for these layoffs. Unbeknownst to many of those affected, Oracle has been actively seeking to bolster its workforce by filing over 3,100 petitions for H-1B visas, which allow U.S. companies to employ foreign workers, particularly in the tech sector. Recent data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reveals that Oracle submitted roughly 3,126 H-1B applications for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, with 436 of those filed in the current fiscal year amid the layoffs. This trend is particularly striking when compared to Amazon's actions during the same timeframe, as the tech giant filed nearly 21,696 H-1B petitions while simultaneously executing layoffs affecting about 30,000 employees across two rounds. The layoffs at Oracle are anticipated to have a significant impact in India, where reports suggest that around 12,000 employees could be affected. In addition, a second wave of job cuts may occur in the near future. As of May 2025, Oracle employed approximately 162,000 full-time staff worldwide, but the full extent of the layoffs remains unclear. Reports from LinkedIn and Business Insider indicate that the restructuring affects various departments, including Oracle Health, Sales, Cloud Infrastructure, Customer Success, and NetSuite. This situation highlights India's dual influence in the global tech workforce: it is a major source of H-1B talent and serves as a crucial offshore base for firms like Oracle. The H-1B visa program itself became a contentious political issue in the U.S. last year following a proclamation by former President Donald Trump, which imposed hefty fees on certain H-1B visa holders. This move prompted many Silicon Valley companies to reevaluate their reliance on the program. Oracle's layoffs are part of a broader trend affecting the technology sector, which is undergoing significant restructuring in response to decelerating growth, increasing operational costs, and shifting investment focuses toward artificial intelligence. Meta has also recently laid off hundreds of employees, contributing to a growing tally of over 41,447 job losses across 78 tech companies in early April 2026, according to layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi.