Oracle CFO Hilary Maxson told employees on 15 September to be 'thoughtful' about where they spend their time and the company's money, one day after Oracle began another round of layoffs. Speaking at her first company-wide meeting since joining Oracle, Maxson also rejected the idea that employees should simply 'do more with less', according to Business Insider, which reviewed a recording of the meeting.
Neither Maxson nor other executives directly addressed the layoffs during the roughly hour-long meeting, Business Insider reported. Instead, the discussion focused on growth, customer demand and opportunities created by artificial intelligence.
Her comments come as Oracle restructures parts of its business while sharply increasing spending on the data centres supporting its AI expansion. Management expects capital expenditure of between $90 billion and $95 billion in fiscal 2027.
Oracle CFO Rejects 'Doing More With Less' After Layoffs
Maxson told employees they should be proud of Oracle's recent financial performance but said maintaining that momentum would require more deliberate decisions about resources.
'This means being thoughtful about where we spend our time and money,' she said.
Maxson said that did not mean 'doing more with less'. Instead, she called for simpler processes that better serve customers and clearer decisions about where Oracle directs its resources.
The message frames financial discipline as a question of prioritisation rather than simply reducing spending. It comes at a time when Oracle is cutting jobs in some areas while committing far more capital to cloud infrastructure.
Oracle appointed Maxson as CFO on 6 April. She joined from Schneider Electric, where she was executive vice president and group CFO. Oracle said at the time that growing demand for AI training, inferencing and cloud services was creating a need to scale its infrastructure rapidly.
Oracle Headcount Fell by About 21,000 in Fiscal 2026
The latest cuts follow a substantial decline in Oracle's workforce during the previous financial year.
Oracle reported approximately 141,000 full-time employees as of 31 May 2026, compared with about 162,000 a year earlier. That represents a net decline of roughly 21,000 employees, or 13%. The figures, however, do not establish how many of those departures resulted specifically from layoffs.
Oracle has also expanded its fiscal 2026 restructuring plan.
The company said estimated costs under the plan were up to $2.1 billion as of 31 August. Management subsequently added approximately $700 million for further actions it expects to take.
Oracle said the restructuring includes measures designed to improve operational efficiency, including the adoption and integration of AI across certain functions. Restructuring expenses can include employee severance, contract termination costs and other exit expenses.
Oracle Keeps $90 Billion to $95 Billion Capex Forecast
The workforce changes are taking place alongside a steep increase in Oracle's infrastructure spending.
Oracle spent $28.5 billion on capital expenditure in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, up from about $8.5 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. The company continues to expect between $90 billion and $95 billion in capital expenditure for the full year.
The spending comes as Oracle's cloud business grows rapidly.
First-quarter revenue rose 30% year on year to $19.3 billion. Total cloud revenue increased 62% to $11.6 billion, while infrastructure-as-a-service revenue jumped 121% to $7.4 billion. Oracle also said demand for AI cloud training and inferencing services continues to grow faster than supply.
The figures illustrate the broader backdrop to Maxson's remarks.
Oracle is continuing to expand its AI and cloud capacity while restructuring other parts of the company, and management is telling employees to focus time and resources on work with the greatest impact.
