Oracle slashes 21,000 jobs amid AI embrace as tech sell-off rocks Asia

Software giant Oracle axed around 21,000 roles in the last year as the US tech giant turbocharged its AI adoption plans – even as markets continue to question the rapid acceleration of the tech boom.

The computing firm – which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange – said in its annual report the “deployment of AI technologies” had led to “reductions to our workforce”

The cuts amount to around 13 per cent of the group’s headacount and come amid a wider trend from tech titans as they pump cash into data centres.

Both Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta have trimmed their headcounts as they funnelled investment into AI endeavours.

Around $1.8bn was spent by Oracle in severance payments and other restructuring costs.

According to estimates from job tracking firms, more than 100,000 tech workers have been laid off in the past year. But other industries have also been ripe for job cuts with financial services giants wielding the axe in a bid to leverage AI.

FTSE 100 giant Standard Chartered announced plans to slash almost 8,000 back-office roles as it sought to replace “lower-value human capital” as the bank rushed to beef up its tech capacity.

But the jobs shake-up comes as markets remain sceptical. South Korea’s stock exchange was forced to trigger a trading-halt during Tuesday’s session, as its flagship index tumbled from record highs after investors sold off chip heavyweights.

The Kospi declined 8.3 per cent from its 9,000 high, before paring back losses slightly to a 7.8 per cent drop, after renewed concerns that the tech rally has once again become overstretched.

SK Hynix plummeted 11.5 per cent to 2,582,000 KRW, while Samsung Electronics dropped 6.2 per cent, leading to the exchange halting trading for 20 minutes – a market safeguard which has become more frequent this year amid the AI craze.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 also suffered a 2.5 per cent drop to 70,488.4 points, while Taiwan’s TAIEX fell 1.3 per cent,

The moves in Asia followed a bruising session on Wall Street where the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled more than one per cent with losses across Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft. Oracle tumbled five per cent to $175. But Elon Musk’s Space X – which launched its long-awaited IPO just under two weeks ago – saw the worst fate, with its stock plunging over 16 per cent to $154 on news of an anticipated borrowing spree.

Asian markets suffered a mass tech sell-off earlier this month, as the region followed losses recorded on Wall Street as investors got the jitters over the future of AI.