Hundreds of workers in the Kansas City area could soon be out of a job after Oracle Corporation confirmed more than 500 layoffs tied to its local operations.The company is cutting 539 positions, with the layoffs expected to be permanent and spread across roughly 150 different job titles, primarily in software development, management and customer service.The cuts continue a yearslong trend following Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner Corporation, which once employed about 15,000 workers in Kansas City. That number has now dropped to an estimated 6,500.“That loss of income will hurt. It’ll hurt our region and it’ll hurt the families though a lot more,” said Frank Lenk, director of economic research at the Mid-America Regional Council.Lenk said the impact could ripple beyond the workers directly affected.“So for every job lost, there will be another job lost somewhere else in the economy. So it’s like double the impact because it’s an exporting firm,” he said.The layoffs come as Oracle continues to shift its business priorities. Analysts say the company is not struggling financially, but instead reallocating resources, including investing heavily in artificial intelligence and data centers.“The mix of jobs is the kind that AI could replace. So that’s why there’s some suspicion, I think,” Lenk said.He added that Kansas City could be particularly vulnerable to these kinds of changes because of its large number of white-collar clerical jobs.“The big question for workforce over the next decade. How do we adapt gracefully to AI?” Lenk said. “What’s not clear is exactly what we can do about it.”State filings show the last day for affected employees is expected to be June 1. Oracle declined to comment when asked about the layoffs.
Hundreds of workers in the Kansas City area could soon be out of a job after Oracle Corporation confirmed more than 500 layoffs tied to its local operations.
The company is cutting 539 positions, with the layoffs expected to be permanent and spread across roughly 150 different job titles, primarily in software development, management and customer service.
The cuts continue a yearslong trend following Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner Corporation, which once employed about 15,000 workers in Kansas City. That number has now dropped to an estimated 6,500.
“That loss of income will hurt. It’ll hurt our region and it’ll hurt the families though a lot more,” said Frank Lenk, director of economic research at the Mid-America Regional Council.
Lenk said the impact could ripple beyond the workers directly affected.
“So for every job lost, there will be another job lost somewhere else in the economy. So it’s like double the impact because it’s an exporting firm,” he said.
The layoffs come as Oracle continues to shift its business priorities.
Analysts say the company is not struggling financially, but instead reallocating resources, including investing heavily in artificial intelligence and data centers.
“The mix of jobs is the kind that AI could replace. So that’s why there’s some suspicion, I think,” Lenk said.
He added that Kansas City could be particularly vulnerable to these kinds of changes because of its large number of white-collar clerical jobs.
“The big question for workforce over the next decade. How do we adapt gracefully to AI?” Lenk said. “What’s not clear is exactly what we can do about it.”
State filings show the last day for affected employees is expected to be June 1.
Oracle declined to comment when asked about the layoffs.