Some 10,000 people are believed to have lost their jobs so far, one employee told the BBC on Tuesday, citing a drop in the number of staff active on Oracle’s internal messaging system Slack.
Shepherd wrote that the “significant reduction in force” was not based on employee performance.
“The individuals affected were not let go because of anything they did or didn’t do,” he added.
His was one of dozens of such posts describing the layoffs.
Former Oracle employee Kendall Levin said on LinkedIn her role was “eliminated as part of the company’s mass reduction in force”.
She added that she remains “a genuine believer” in where the firm is headed.
Several others described receiving early morning emails informing them they were no longer employed and would receive one month of severance pay.
Oracle is one of the largest tech companies in the world and it offers software and cloud computing infrastructure to other companies.
Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, is Oracle’s co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer.
Talk inside Oracle of a significant layoff began earlier this year.
Claims similar to those of Oracle’s executives about companies being able to use AI tools to do more work with fewer employees have come from tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jack Dorsey of Block.
Both executives have also overseen layoffs at their companies already this year.
However, such leaders in the tech industry have been conducting mass layoffs every year for the last several years. Previous rounds of cuts have not been blamed on AI.
Other tech companies that have cut jobs this year include Amazon, Pinterest and Epic Games.