MW 'Mass layoffs by email might be the new norm' as Oracle lays off thousands that way
By Weston Blasi
The cloud-computing and database company began cutting 30,000 jobs on Tuesday
Oracle this week told some workers in the U.S. and India that their roles were being eliminated.
Oracle Corp.'s mass layoffs on Tuesday were part of the company's cost-cutting measures as it continues to build out expensive data centers for powering artificial intelligence.
But one aspect of the mass layoffs - which were estimated to be as many as 30,000 people - was alerting workers over email at 6 a.m. Eastern that Tuesday would be their last day. It's not clear if all 30,000 of the reported layoffs occurred on Tuesday, or if more are coming later in the year.
"After careful consideration of Oracle's current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role," an email to one affected employee, obtained by MarketWatch, read.
Oracle $(ORCL)$ employed an estimated 162,000 people worldwide as of May 2025, and has seen its stock falter this year. Shares of Oracle are down 4.3% over the past month, and down 25% year to date.
Oracle declined to comment.
While MarketWatch's Charles Passy has noted that there's no such thing as a good layoff, getting let go over email is starting to become a growing trend.
"It's not unheard of to lay workers off by email, especially in the tech industry and large corporations," Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of Kickresume, a career platform and resume-builder company, told MarketWatch. "There have been quite a few stories in recent years about major companies laying off large numbers of employees by email. Those messages are often described as cold, impersonal and vague about why a role is being cut."
Amazon (AMZN) made headlines earlier this year after its planned mass-layoff email was accidentally sent too early, and to the wrong employees.
Tesla's $(TSLA)$ Elon Musk famously used "Dear Employee" emails to trim Tesla's workforce starting in 2024. In that situation, even some bosses were unaware that layoffs were coming, one Tesla employee told MarketWatch in 2024.
Google $(GOOG)$ $(GOOGL)$also announced a headcount reduction over email back in 2024.
While this process may seem impersonal, when really large companies conduct mass layoffs, this is one of the most efficient ways to let thousands of workers know they have been let go. Particularly if they are not all in one location.
"Letting all these employees know at the same time creates much less administrative work," Duris said. "This is especially the case when the workers being laid off are based all over the world, in multiple time zones."
"It also lets companies cut off access to work email and other platforms immediately after delivering the news, which may help prevent retaliation from angry employees," he added.
Besides email, we've also seen layoffs over Zoom (ZM) or video calls in recent years. And Duris doesn't expect those types of layoffs to subside anytime soon.
"Unfortunately, mass layoffs by email might be the new norm in the tech industry. Similarly, companies are telling employees they've lost their jobs over video calls, sometimes with the chat function disabled or with attendees unable to switch their microphones on... some people have even been fired by pre-recorded video messages, leaving them with no way to respond."
Read on: Here's one reason investors shouldn't get too excited about this week's stock-market rebound
-Weston Blasi
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April 04, 2026 11:25 ET (15:25 GMT)
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