Big tech companies now hiring low-paid H1B workers after mass layoffs: report

After the tsunami of mass layoffs, big tech giants are now hiring lower-paid tech workers from foreign countries. Many of the big Silicon Valley companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Zoom, Salesforce and Palantir have applied for thousands of H-1B worker visas this year, reported independent investigative journalist Lee Fang, citing a US Department of Labor data.

Ironically, thousands of workers on H-1B visas, including several Indians, have been affected by the layoffs in the United States, leading many to share the news on social media seeking new job opportunities, the report noted. Many laid-off employees have either lost or will soon lose the right to stay in the US.

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According to the report, Google filed applications for H-1B visas to hire lower-paid workers from foreign countries just a month after announcing its plan to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide in January. The visas were for roles including software engineers, analytical consultants, and user experience researchers, with some requests aimed at new Google employees to join in August only.

Waymo, a self-driving cars company owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet also reportedly filed similar H-1B applications to hire engineers.

H-1B visas are used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, which has always been a contentious issue in the immigration debate. Critics say that these visas are used to undercut US citizens and legal permanent residents.

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These visas are issued for three years and can be further extended for another three years.

Fang cited a 2017 report by the National Bureau of Economic Research that found that “wages for US computer scientists would have been 2.6% to 5.1% higher” while “employment in computer science for US workers would have been 6.1% to 10.8% higher” in 2001 if there has been no immigration.

Some even critique that the number of soaring applications in the technology industry raises “serious concerns” as immigrants manipulate the system to gain an unfair advantage.

According to Fang, tech firms have hired lobbyists to pressure lawmakers and the Biden administration to expand the number of H-1B visas that are issued. Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas.

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The website Layoffs.fyi, which keeps running a tally of the total number of workers who have lost their jobs this year, reported more than 168,000 tech layoffs till now.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, laid off 21,000 employees within a few months, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg named it the “year of efficiency” in response to the downsizing US tech sector. Google laid off 12,000 employees in January and

Amazon has conducted two rounds of layoffs, removing around 27,000 employees from its payroll.Microsoft also announced a global workforce reduction of nearly 5 per cent, which is equivalent to 10,000 jobs, in January.

(Withinputs from agencies)

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