7 months ago
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and 8 different large corporations person been questioned by U.S. Senators for filing thousands of H-1B skilled labour visa petitions aft conducting "mass layoffs" of American employees.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking subordinate Richard Durbin person besides questioned Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, and Walmart, asking them for details connected their hiring and recruitment practices arsenic good arsenic immoderate saltation successful wage and benefits betwixt H-1B visa holders and American employees.
The Senators said their "inquiry" comes astatine a clip erstwhile the unemployment complaint successful America’s tech assemblage is "well above" the wide jobless rate. According to the Federal Reserve, caller American graduates with STEM degrees present look higher unemployment rates than the wide population, they stated.
It is pertinent to notation that Senator Grassley and Senator Durbin person been vocal critics of the H-1B visa programme and person consistently contended that these visas are being abused by galore to regenerate U.S. workers with cheaper labour from overseas.
In fact, conscionable a fewer days aft their missive to the 10 companies, the Senators said they are reintroducing bipartisan authorities to "reform and adjacent loopholes" successful the H-1B and L-1 visa programs.
The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act targets fraud and maltreatment successful U.S. migration system, provides extortion for American workers and visa holders and enhances transparency successful the overseas idiosyncratic recruitment process, the 2 argued.
"In evaluating the precocious unemployment complaint for American tech workers, we cannot disregard the massive, ongoing layoffs ordered by you and your peers successful Big Tech C-suites implicit the past fewer years...At the aforesaid clip you person been laying disconnected your employees, you person been filing H-1B visa petitions for (thousands of) overseas workers,” the Senators wrote successful letters to 10 large employers successful the U.S. connected September 25, 2025.
They added: "With each of the homegrown American endowment relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to judge that (you) cannot find qualified American tech workers to capable these positions."
On TCS, the connection noted that the institution precocious announced plans to laic disconnected implicit 12,000 employees, including American staff.
"In fiscal twelvemonth 2025, TCS applied for and received support to prosecute 5,505 overseas H1-1B employees. TCS is presently nether probe by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for allegedly firing older American employees successful favour of recently hired overseas H-1B visa holders," it said.
It further said Cognizant Technology Solutions laid disconnected thousands of workers, including employees successful the US.
"In fiscal twelvemonth 2025, Cognizant applied for and received support to prosecute 2,493 overseas H-1B employees. In 2024, a national assemblage concluded Cognizant favoured South Asian H1-B visa holders implicit American employees, which warranted punitive damages," it added.
E-mails sent to TCS and Cognizant for comments by PTI did not elicit a response.
The connection by Grassley and Durbin noted that Amazon laid disconnected tens-of-thousands of employees successful caller years, blaming the adoption of generative AI tools. In fiscal twelvemonth 2025, Amazon applied for and received support to prosecute 10,044 overseas H-1B employees.
Google, it said, laid disconnected tens-of-thousands of employees successful caller years, including hundreds of workers successful its level and instrumentality unit, and 35% of its tiny squad managers "despite enjoying records profits".
In fiscal twelvemonth 2025, Google applied for and received support to prosecute 4,181 overseas H-1B employees, the connection observed.
According to it, Meta laid disconnected a 4th of its workforce betwixt 2022 and 2023 and labelled it a "year of efficiency".
"In 2025, Meta laid disconnected 3,600 employees, overshooting its stated extremity of laying disconnected different 5 per cent of its workforce. In fiscal twelvemonth 2025, Meta applied for and received support to prosecute 5,123 overseas H-1B employees," it said.
Microsoft applied for and received support to prosecute 5,189 overseas H-1B employees successful fiscal twelvemonth 2025, arsenic per the statement.
Microsoft laid disconnected 16,000 employees this twelvemonth alone, contempt grounds gross and profits, it said adding amid disapproval for mass-layoffs, Microsoft characterised its actions arsenic an "enigma of success".
