Oracle reduced its workforce by about 21,000 employees over the past year, a cut of nearly 13%, as the software and cloud company continues to rework staffing around its artificial intelligence push.

The company said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it had 141,000 full-time employees as of May 2026, down from 162,000 a year earlier. Oracle linked the reduction to the adoption and deployment of AI technologies across its operations, saying those tools have already led, and could continue to lead, to fewer roles.

The workforce decline comes as large technology companies weigh aggressive spending on AI infrastructure against the need to control costs elsewhere. Oracle is among several major firms trimming headcount while financing large-scale data center and cloud buildouts intended to support AI products and services.

Oracle also disclosed a sharp increase in restructuring expenses. The company said it spent $1.8 billion on restructuring costs in the latest fiscal year, including severance and other exit-related charges. That is well above the $374 million it recorded in the prior year.

In the filing, Oracle warned that restructuring can disrupt operations. It said such moves may lower productivity, create shortages of employees with the right skills, and hurt morale and retention. The company also noted that reducing staff can lead to a loss of institutional knowledge.

A company statement shared with CNBC said Oracle will keep balancing resources as its cloud and AI businesses expand. The firm said it will continue restructuring its development organization so it has the right people building cloud and AI products for customers around the world.

Oracle had already signaled job reductions earlier this year. In March, it told employees it was cutting thousands of roles amid investor concern over the amount of debt it was taking on to fund its AI infrastructure plans. In January, Oracle announced plans to raise $50 billion in debt and equity.

The workforce cuts arrive at a time when Oracle’s spending is rising quickly. The company reported negative free cash flow of $23.7 billion in its latest fiscal year, while capital expenditures increased 162% to $55.7 billion. Those figures underscore the scale of investment required for Oracle’s AI and cloud expansion.

The broader tech sector is making similar tradeoffs. Companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have laid out capital spending plans this year that could total as much as $700 billion for AI data center development. Some of those firms have also reduced headcount or offered buyouts as they redirect resources toward AI.

Meta cut 8,000 jobs in May, equivalent to about 10% of its workforce. Microsoft has offered voluntary buyouts to 7% of U.S. employees. Across the industry, AI-related layoffs have become more common as executives look for ways to offset the cost of the technology buildout.

Oracle shares fell about 1% on Tuesday and have dropped more than 10% so far this year, reflecting pressure on the stock as tech names sell off broadly. The company’s job cuts place it among the latest major technology employers to pair AI investment with a smaller workforce.