Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the software giant cut around 500 positions in its North American sales and consulting businesses on Friday.

The Redwood Shores, California-based company had 33,526 employees in the Americas at the end of November and 86,657 globally, the report said.

An Oracle spokeswoman declined to comment to the newspaper and could not immediately be reached by Reuters.

The Journal said the Internet has been buzzing with rumors of cuts of up to 10 percent of the company's workforce, a move that would affect thousands of people. Some analysts have put the number in the hundreds.