Oracle Layoffs: Employee Says Slack Access Gone at 4AM, Reddit Post Captures Fears of Limitations in AI Era | Today’s news

Oracle’s latest round of layoffs spilled over to Reddit, where two employees separately shared accounts of discovering that their access to company systems had been revoked before they received the official layoff email.

One of the posts from a Reddit user Odd-Impress-5815drew attention with his deeply personal account of weeks of waiting for the possibility of losing his job. The employee said that just as they were worried, they finally arrived around 4:00 a.m. — but not via email.

“At about 4am I logged out of Slack and no longer have access to my laptop, which kind of unofficially confirms that I’ve been fired,” the employee wrote.

The user said he didn’t get a good night’s sleep for three weeks when the layoffs were being discussed, staying up into the wee hours of the morning for fear of receiving the dreaded notification.

“And today I did. Well, not an email.”

Oracle employee worried about loans after layoff

The employee said the job loss itself wasn’t the only problem. Financial obligations, especially loans, weighed heavily on them.

“I know I’m capable and I know I’ll find a job somewhere more humane. But I have a lot of loans and that’s the part I’m really worried about.”

The employee also questioned the contrast between Oracle’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence and the experience of workers facing layoffs.

“What does it even mean to work for a company that can’t keep its AI in its pants while treating its employees like insects?” wrote the user, describing the situation as a combination of “greed” and a lack of “empathy and humanity.”

The employee said it was their first job and wondered if the experience was just part of corporate life.

“But this was my first job. Maybe that’s corporate life and I’m just realizing it now. I don’t know.”

The post also raised questions about severance pay and how layoffs were handled. The employee said they wanted to clear their loans, find other jobs and take care of their “fur babies.”

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“I wish this whole process was more organized. I wish it was more human. But I think it is.”

Another Oracle employee reports that access was interrupted at 5:45 a.m

Individual Reddit user, OkMykolog6001also shared an account of losing access to Oracle systems.

The employee wrote that their access to Slack was revoked at 5:45 a.m., while they had not yet received the official email. The user’s profile reportedly appeared to colleagues to be deactivated.

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“Looks like it’s done for me! Access to Slacks was revoked at 5:45 IST, no email yet, but profile is showing as disabled to others.

I’m a little shaken… a lot of mixed emotions.”

The two posts are separate accounts, but both describe employees discovering the loss of access to company systems before formal communications were received.

Reddit users rally behind fired employees

The posts prompted messages of support from other Reddit users.

One person responded to the first employee’s post saying:

“Time for a rebirth… Yes, that’s what a corporation is… a bunch of leaders who can’t plan things properly and the employees have to pay for it.. You will do well and the best part is you have furry children.. they will heal this mental wound.”

“Oh man. I feel you. May God give you the strength to rise stronger. I’m silently praying for you man,”

The Reddit posts come as Oracle begins another round of job cuts. According to a Business Insider report, the affected employees were informed via morning announcements that their roles were being eliminated as part of a “broader organizational change.” The day of the announcement was also their last day of work, according to the report.

Oracle did not disclose how many employees were affected in the latest round.

Oracle is spending billions on AI infrastructure

The latest layoffs come as Oracle ramps up spending on data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Oracle spent $28.5 billion on capital expenditures in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, more than triple the $8.5 billion it spent in the same period a year earlier. The company maintained its full-year capital spending forecast of $90 billion to $95 billion as it expands its data center capacity.

The latest job cuts also follow significantly larger cuts during fiscal year 2026. Oracle’s global workforce decreased by approximately 21,000 employees, or 13%, during the fiscal year ending May 31. The company had approximately 141,000 employees at the end of the period, down from approximately 162,000 a year earlier.

Oracle spent approximately $1.84 billion in severance and other restructuring-related exit costs during fiscal 2026, compared with $374 million in the prior year.

The company previously said some workforce reductions were related to the adoption and deployment of AI in its operations.

But for employees documenting their experiences on Reddit, the broader AI boom takes on a more personal form: the uncertainty of waiting to be laid off followed by the sudden disappearance of access to the systems they used to do their jobs.ori.

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