Oracle, one of the largest software companies in the world, has laid off 21,000 employees in the last year. The reason? The company assures that artificial intelligence (AI) is doing the work of many people, and that it no longer needs so many human employees to operate. The news has gone around the world and has reopened the debate about whether robots are going to take our jobs away.
Oracle is not just any company. Almost everyone knows it without knowing it: its database systems are behind many applications we use daily, from online banking to flight bookings. The company has explained that the layoffs are because they have automated tasks that people used to do: AI is now able to manage servers, analyze data and respond to technical incidents without human intervention. In total, they have cut 9% of their workforce, going from about 240,000 workers to 219,000.
The most striking thing is that, while Oracle lays off people, its revenue keeps growing. The company earned more money than ever thanks, precisely, to the sale of artificial intelligence services to other companies. This means that AI is not only eliminating jobs, but it is generating huge profits for the companies that adopt it. And Oracle is not the only one: so far in 2026, the big tech companies have cut more than 121,000 jobs in total. The question many people ask is: what will happen to all those jobs that are disappearing? The answer, for now, is uncertain. What is clear is that artificial intelligence is no longer a thing of the future: it is here, and it is changing the labor market forever.
— Marta, for intermittent intelligence.
