Oracle is cutting jobs, but its new CFO says the answer isn’t “doing more with less”
Hilary Maxson told employees to focus instead on eliminating work that does not help customers and directing resources toward areas with the greatest impact.
A day after Oracle began another round of layoffs, its new CFO used her first companywide meeting to tell employees that the company does not want them simply doing more work with fewer people. Instead, Hilary Maxson said Oracle needs to become more selective about where it puts its money and employees’ time as it pours tens of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure.
Maxson’s remarks, reported by Business Insider after reviewing a recording of Tuesday’s meeting, offered a glimpse into how Oracle is trying to reconcile the two seemingly conflicting priorities of reducing costs and its workforce while dramatically increasing the amount it spends on the infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence.
“This means being thoughtful about where we spend our time and money,” Maxson told employees. “I don't mean doing more with less, which is a phrase that I really, really don't like.”
The alternative, she said, is to simplify processes that do not help customers and make clear choices about where Oracle should use its resources to have the greatest impact.
The message comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Oracle employees. The company began another round of layoffs on Monday, telling affected workers that their positions were being eliminated as part of a “broader organizational change.” The company has not disclosed how many employees are affected, and it remains unclear whether the latest cuts extend to its workforce in Israel.
The new layoffs follow a much larger reduction in Oracle’s workforce over the past year. The company’s headcount fell by about 21,000 employees, or 13%, during the fiscal year that ended May 31.
Yet Oracle is not entering a period of retrenchment. It is spending more aggressively than ever on the infrastructure behind its AI and cloud ambitions.
Oracle reported $28.5 billion in capital expenditures in its latest quarter, compared with $8.5 billion a year earlier. It has maintained its forecast for fiscal 2027 capital expenditures at between $90 billion and $95 billion.
The roughly hourlong town hall did not directly address the layoffs, according to Business Insider. Instead, executives repeatedly emphasized growth, customer demand and the opportunities created by AI.
Mike Sicilia, one of Oracle’s co-CEOs, urged employees to judge their work by its impact on customers.
“I'd ask you to keep asking a very simple question: How does the work that I'm doing help deliver a better outcome for a customer?” Sicilia said.
He acknowledged the amount of change taking place inside and outside the company, telling employees that how they work together and show up for customers and one another would matter.
