One of the defining characteristics of mature consumer markets is not simply the abundance of products, but the quality of consumer decision-making. Across sectors, rising financial awareness, easier access to information and digital discovery are changing what people choose to buy and how they
Imagine reaching retirement with a bond portfolio that works like a staircase. One bond matures this year, another next year, and another the year after, giving you access to money at different points instead of having to unlock the entire investment at once
Augmont Enterprises IPO Day 2: The initial public offering (IPO) of integrated gold and silver platform Augmont Enterprises Ltd is witnessing its second day of bidding today, August 24. So far, the public issue has been subscribed 2.88 times. The Rs 825-crore IPO
Gold prices remain high in India; check 22K, 24K rates in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru International gold prices also climbed to a more than three-month high on Monday. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:46:24 IST By HT News Desk Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Gold prices remained high in India on
Nearly three-fourth of large-cap active funds underperformed a blended (LargeMidCap) benchmark over a 10-year period, according to the 2025 report by SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active). In this article, we discuss two reasons that could, perhaps
Indian Stock Market Today, August 24: The domestic equity markets opened higher on Monday, but gains remained measured as investors continued to track elevated crude oil prices and geopolitical tensions in West Asia. At 9:16 am, the BSE Sensex was up 205 points, or 0.26%, at 77,746.06
Businesses from India and the U.S. have expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh and made proposals to improve the country's investment climate, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said. Mr. Muktadir’s remarks on Saturday (August 22
Minimalistic retractable door handles became a signature feature of electric vehicles (EVs), but the controversial designs are now at the centre of China's biggest car recall, affecting more than 4 million vehicles. The recall, which includes 2.98 million Chinese-made Teslas
Is Larry Ellison’s Oracle turning out to be an oracle of the global tech industry?
Is Larry Ellison’s Oracle turning out to be an oracle of the global tech industry?
Oracle Corporation’s, an enterprise software, cloud computing, and database systems company based in Texas, surprise layoff of 30,000 people globally, including 12,000 in India, can’t be a “one-off’’ Oracle story, but part of “a structural reset’’ across the industry, say global tech industry analysts.
According to them, AI is compressing the cost of delivery, reducing the need for layers of human-led support roles, and forcing firms to rebalance toward fewer, more technical, more product-oriented talent profiles. The message from the boardroom is unambiguous: AI infrastructure is the future, and legacy headcount is the budget. So, Larry Ellison, the co-founder and long-time CEO and currently Chairman and CTO of Oracle, ‘is not the only guy, although he’s the loudest name this week,’ as per them.
So far in 2026, tech companies have cut over 85,000 jobs, that’s nearly 1,000 people every day. Amazon cut 16,000 in January alone; IBM shed around 9,000 in 2025 and is on course to match that in 2026; Salesforce slashed half its customer support team and replaced them with AI agents. LinkedIn data shows AI/ML engineering job postings rose 34% year-over-year in March 2026, even as overall tech postings fell 8%. The pattern couldn’t be clearer: companies are cutting non-AI roles to fund AI roles. The panic triggered by TCS in October last year, when it slashed 12,000 jobs, is only likely to get more prominent now on with multiple factors simultaneously adding pressures on tech, they cautioned.
Avinash Vashistha, Chairman & CEO, Tholons, a tech advisory and research firm based in New York also former Chairman & CEO, Accenture India, observed, “The irony is, this is not a company (Oracle) in revenue distress. It is a company placing a very large bet. And the chips it’s cashing in are people.’’
For instance, Oracle posted a 95% jump in net income last quarter, reaching $6.13 billion, and its remaining performance obligations -a measure of contracted future revenue - stood at $523 billion, up 433% year over year.
Mr. Vashistha said, “I advise boards and CEOs across the world’s largest technology and GCC organisations, and the question I am asked most is: how do we transform our workforce for AI? My answer is increasingly uncomfortable - you cannot retrofit an AI-first culture onto a legacy workforce at the speed the market demands. The smarter play is to go upstream: embed your organisation inside universities, capture talent in their final semester, and build AI-native teams from the ground up.”
One of the very first Oracle employees, who worked in the company for over 40 years, was reportedly among those who lost the job. “Forty years of institutional knowledge delivered its pink slip via push notification. It tells you something about what tech now values. Not loyalty, not tenure, not the wisdom of someone who has seen five platform shifts and eight CEOs. Can you build what we need next, is the only concern,’’ noted Mr. Vashistha.
According to Peter Bendor-Samuel, Founder and Executive Chairman of Dallas-based Everest Group, Oracle layoffs are linked to AI but not to the AI productivity in coding. ``Oracle has made huge commitments to build AI data centers and now is restructuring to save money and potentially divest assets so it can free up the cash to build them,’’ he said.
The Everest Group Chief was also of the opinion that the Oracle layoffs were a story of restructuring and was resultant from over expansion during covid.
Phil Fersht, CEO, HFS Research, a Massachusetts-based firm, said the layoff was triggered by a convergence of forces. AI was the catalyst, but market conditions were accelerating decisions that were already inevitable. Oracle just happened to be one of the first large firms making visible moves.
``At the same time, there is macro pressure, slower enterprise spending, geopolitical uncertainty, and a backlog of enterprise debt that was delaying large transformation programmes,’’ he commented.
When asked whether the Oracle layoff triggered similar actions across IT services and SaaS, Mr. Fersht responded in affirmative, adding, but it would not look identical across firms. ``SaaS providers will continue to rationalise around product engineering, AI embedding, and reducing go-to-market and support overhead,’’ he stated.
Mr. Fersht said IT services firms faced a deeper disruption. Their traditional model was built on scaling people, and AI fundamentally breaking that equation. ``Expect more restructuring, more pyramid flattening, and a shift toward smaller, higher-skilled teams supported by agentic platforms,’’ he warned.
He further said. this was the start of a multi-year workforce reset. AI was not just augmenting work, it was rewiring how services were delivered. Firms that move fastest to redesign their operating models will win. Those that hesitate will be forced into reactive layoffs instead of proactive reinvention.
Oracle’s total AI investments are estimated to exceed $150 billion over several years, including a $50 billion debt raise to support infrastructure expansion tied to a Stargate data center project with OpenAI. ``To fund bricks, servers, and GPUs, it needs to shed salaries,’’ Mr. Vashistha commented. Investment banker TD Cowen estimates the workforce reductions will free up $8–10 billion in cash flow, and Oracle disclosed a $2.1 billion restructuring plan in its March 2026 SEC filing, with $982 million already recorded.
Published - April 01, 2026 09:51 pm IST
Source: TheHindu
Related Posts: Business
Tempsens Instruments India IPO Day 3: The initial public offering (IPO) of temperature sensing and heating solutions provider Tempsens Instruments Ltd is witnessing its final day of bidding today, August 24. So far, the public issue has been subscribed by a strong 31.34 times. The Rs 650-crore IPO
11 hours ago
S&P 500 just hit a level seen only once before in 155 years — could a market crash be next? The S&P 500 CAPE ratio hit 40 for only the second time in 155 years, raising concerns about valuations, future returns and a possible market correction. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
14 hours ago
Anthropic $2 trillion IPO: Why investors think it could be worth more than SpaceX Anthropic could reach a $2 trillion IPO valuation as revenue surges, raising questions about whether the AI company can be worth more than SpaceX. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
14 hours ago
US President Donald Trump has said Canada wants "the benefits of being a State, without being one" after trade talks between the two countries collapsed late on Friday. In his first comments since negotiations broke down, triggering new 50% US tariffs on a range of Canadian goods
1 days ago
India’s payments sector has raised $5.8 billion across 371 equity funding rounds since January 2021, while producing eight initial public offerings (IPOs) and triggering 25 acquisitions, as the industry increasingly consolidates around a handful of well-funded players
1 days ago
Can Reddit survive in the AI era? It wants more cash for its data—and more of people’s time Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 16:40:48 IST The Economist Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Earlier this summer “Backrooms”, a horror flick, became one of the most successful independent films ever
1 days ago
What with a 250th birthday, Taylor Swift's wedding and the football World Cup, Americans could be forgiven for taking their eye off the ball this summer. But signs of economic trouble have been building. This week they hit the headlines when US national debt passed the $40tn (£29.4tn) mark
1 days ago
Insurance regulator IRDAI has directed Edelweiss Life Insurance and Pramerica Life Insurance, in separate orders on August 20, not to open new place of business for six months for non-compliance with Expenses of Management (EoM) limits in 2024-25
2 days ago
India remains a very attractive destination for global investments and its economic fundamentals form the basis for strong investor confidence, Jyoti Jeetun, the Minister of Financial Services and Economic Planning of Mauritius told The Hindu in an interview
2 days ago
A fresh wave of US tariffs on a wide array of Canadian goods has come into effect as of midnight on Saturday after a last minute break down in trade talks. Announcing the suspension of negotiations shortly before the Friday night deadline, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would impose
2 days ago
TCS Employee Surveillance Row: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company, on Friday denied reports that it is using monitoring tools to track individual employee activity on company-issued laptops. The IT giant said the purpose of the tools is to monitor the overall
2 days ago
Walmart stock falls 9% as retailer finally brings Apple Pay, Google Pay Walmart stock fell 9% after earnings despite beating estimates and raising guidance. The retailer will add Apple Pay and Google Pay Tap to Pay from August 24. Updated on: Aug 21, 2026
2 days ago
TikTok has agreed to pay $400m (£293m) to the US to end a lawsuit alleging its platform violated children‘s privacy, marking one of the largest ever settlements over the issue. The deal stems from a 2024 suit by the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden alleging TikTok and its
2 days ago
What’s next for Nvidia after the AI chip boom? Wall Street wants more—here’s what investors need to know Nvidia stock faces high expectations ahead of August 26 earnings as Wall Street watches AI growth, valuation, open-source models and Nvidia's next big story. Updated on: Aug 22, 2026
2 days ago
Costco dividend rises: Why a $10,000 investment pays only $61 yearly A $10,000 Costco investment earns only about $61 a year in regular dividends. Here’s why investors still buy COST for growth and special dividends. Updated on: Aug 20, 2026
3 days ago
Leaving education, getting a job, buying a home and perhaps starting a family: the path previous generations followed may seem a distant dream to many now. But is it getting a bit easier - at least when it comes to getting on the housing ladder? Today's prospective first-time buyers may well feel
3 days ago
Nearly six months after US President Donald Trump vowed a swift victory over Iran, the conflict appears to be at a standstill, with prospects of a military victory or negotiated settlement growing dimmer. To break the deadlock, Trump has vowed an "economic D-Day" under which any country that does
3 days ago
Why US stocks fell today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop as oil and bond yields rise US stocks fell as oil prices and Treasury yields rose. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped as Trump's Iran threat, Walmart and the bond market hit Wall Street. Published on: Aug 20, 2026
3 days ago
Crypto stocks surge as Trump backs Clarity Act: Coinbase, Circle, miners rise Crypto stocks surge as Trump backs the Clarity Act. Coinbase, Circle, Bitcoin miners and other crypto shares rise as investors expect clearer US crypto rules. Updated on: Aug 20, 2026
4 days ago
Stock Market Today, August 20: The domestic equity market snapped its seven-day losing streak and ended sharply higher on Thursday, August 20, as broad-based buying lifted sentiment across sectors after the US Treasury stepped in to contain the surge in global bond yields
4 days ago
The Reserve Bank of India RBI has accorded its approval to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for acquiring an aggregate holding of up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in HDFC Bank Ltd., the bank said in a filing with the exchanges on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) night
4 days ago
Customers have shared their outrage after an app used by many businesses to track timesheets and produce invoices hiked bills by as much as 1500%, with one person calling it "daylight robbery". Richard Haldenby, head of UK consultancy firm Salentis
4 days ago
Bitcoin Price Today, August 20: Bitcoin surged to the $70,000 mark on Thursday, recording one of its sharpest gains in recent months as a combination of lower US Treasury yields, a weaker dollar, strong institutional demand and large-scale short liquidations pushed the broader cryptocurrency market
4 days ago
US President Donald Trump has said he will launch tougher economic measures against Iran, as well as any country and that helps or does business with the country. He wrote in all capital letters on Truth Social that he was launching "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any
4 days ago
The domestic equity markets were trading firmly higher on Thursday, August 20, with buying visible across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The gains strengthened through the session, with the benchmark Sensex rising more than 600 points by 1:20 pm
4 days ago
U.S. President Donald Trump will host cryptocurrency executives at the White House on Wednesday as U.S. financial regulators this week prepare to advance their framework for certain digital assets. Trump, who has earned more than $1.4 billion from his family’s crypto ventures
4 days ago
Telecom inflation, chargers and the number 45, and Small Talk ASL app Beyond the regular noise, a closer look at personal technology. 20 August 2026. Published on: Aug 20, 2026, 08:00:58 IST By Vishal Mathur Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Opening thoughts. Josh Staub
4 days ago
