Big Tech's Immigration Play Amid Home-Grown Job Cuts: Navigating the H1-B Highway

Newly disclosed data by the Department of Labor shows thousands of recent H1-B foreign worker visas requested by firms that underwent record layoffs this year.
The hiring firms included Meta Platforms Inc META, Amazon.Com Inc AMZN, Zoom Video Communications, Inc ZM, Salesforce, Inc CRM, Microsoft Corp MSFT, and Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR, Lee Fang wrote.
One month after Google's record downsizing announcement, it applied for low-paid foreign workers to come to America and take highly specialized tech jobs, including software engineers, analytical consultants, user experience researchers, and other roles.
Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Google, also filed and received visa applications for engineering jobs.
Many Google visas are for new employees, with some starting by August 17.
Fang cited a 2017 study that found that "wages for U.S. computer scientists would have been dearer by 2.6% to 5.1% while employment in computer science for U.S. workers would have been 6.1% to 10.8% higher in 2001 "in the absence of immigration."
The number of visa applications used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising concerns about manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said in April, NY Post reports.
According to Fang, tech firms have hired lobbyists to pressure lawmakers and the Biden administration to expand the number of H-1B visas issued.
Price Actions: META shares traded higher by 1.72% at $242.90 on the last check Wednesday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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