#h1b

Any layoffs ?
People sending emails about their last day at fidelity .
Also seeing other folks in other companies with long tenure doing the same. Saw atleast 2 of them this morning on linkedin.
Also lot of hiring in India as H1B fees by trump.

Let's turn back the clock a bit. Around ten years ago Dell laid off a lot of long time employees. Employees who had worked for the company for 15 years or more. As you would expect after 15 years, these were very well paid employees across all skill workers.

Dell was still a growing company and could have offered other roles to these employees. However Dell let them go. Needing a wealth of new employees Dell turned to India and the new hires received the kind of lower wages that new employee (performing the same job) would get as opposed to a long time employee.

Now here we are in 2025. Those H1-B hires are now in their tenth year. Through annual raises they are now a bigger hit to OPEX. Now comes Trump's new H1-B policy. So now Dell gets to layoff veteran and costly H1-B and blame it on the new H1-B policy. But now they simply run the same gambit of laying of veteran employees for new lower paid replacement and look innocent free.

It's like in that movie The Sting. Never let your mark know they were stung.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Ecodxn5m4

Major tech companies including Meta, Google, Salesforce, Amazon, and Tesla continue to announce large-scale layoffs, often attributing them to advances in artificial intelligence. At the same time, firms are quietly expanding through H-1B visa hiring and outsourcing to countries like India, where more than 1.6 million people now work in global capacity centers.

Data shows Salesforce, for example, cut nearly 4,000 employees while bringing in roughly the same number of visa workers over the past three years. Tesla faces lawsuits alleging the replacement of thousands of American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Amazon, despite claims of automation, secured more than 12,000 visas in 2025 alone.

Executives benefit from this strategy: every announcement of “AI layoffs” drives stock prices higher and boosts their compensation. Policies such as the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act further incentivize offshoring by lowering tax rates on overseas profits.

While AI is genuinely replacing some jobs—particularly in content moderation, customer service, and IT support—corporations are also using the technology as a convenient narrative to mask cost-cutting and labor exploitation. Unemployment among U.S. computer engineering graduates has tripled in a year, and many new graduates are struggling to secure entry-level roles that have been systematically reduced.

The long-term risk mirrors the manufacturing exodus to China in the 1980s and 1990s: a hollowing out of U.S. jobs while overseas economies flourish.

With new 100k fee, Dell will not apply most H1B visa and offer applicants same job but oversea office. Or if necessary, Dell can hire minimum residence in US. Either way , it is a huge cost savings.

Asking why Americans are being laidoff while hiring h1bs at the same time

It’s a 100k one time company fee for new H1Bs. This won’t affect existing H1BS. Theres like over 100 thousand of them already in the country. And they can just renew it. 100k one time fee is NOTHING for a company like Fiserv. They’ll probably just continue their same song and dance and continue to exploit America and the American people.

Both dems and reps are talking about reforming the visas.

Everyone knows it is hot garbage.

The end is nigh.

At 100k per things are going to change. New corporate phrase going around. “Pick an executive and replace them with an H1B.”

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/h1b-visa-grassley-durbin-letter-tech-firms-8fe931e9

Project Firewall is an enforcement initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on September 19, 2025, aimed at curbing abuse in the H-1B visa program. It focuses on investigating employers suspected of exploiting H-1B visas to displace American workers with lower-wage foreign labor, particularly in high-skilled STEM fields. The project prioritizes “America first” hiring by ensuring compliance with visa rules and rooting out fraud.
Key Aspects:
• Leadership and Scope: Led by the DOL’s Office of Immigration Policy, Employment and Training Administration, and Wage and Hour Division, with collaboration from the Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Secretary of Labor can personally certify investigations for high-priority cases.
• Enforcement Measures: Investigations can start via secretary certification or standard channels, targeting violations like wage suppression, improper job displacement, and visa misuse. It aligns with a recent executive order by President Donald Trump requiring a $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions.
• Goals and Impact: As stated by Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, it ensures “highly skilled jobs go to Americans first” by ending abuses that undercut U.S. workers. Critics, however, warn of potential overreach affecting small businesses and innovation.
This initiative reflects the Trump administration’s broader immigration and labor priorities. For unrelated uses of “project firewall” (e.g., open-source software firewalls), the term typically refers to custom network security implementations, but the 2025 launch dominates current references.

The whole world is talking about H1B chaos caused by 'you know who' and here we are , pin drop silence.. is that an indication that Nike have laid off so many of the H1B that there is no need of any discussion about it.. anymore!!!

Don't know, how many of us here are IT, but when I've heard about new TRUMP fee for indian workers - I started liking my president.
Currently the ratio if indian:non-indian in our IT is 9:1, and the major drawback of that (excepr the reverse discrimination) is knowledge leaking abroad and lower earnings level in the US.
Time and time again I saw indians cominfg in for a year or two, being traned and then replaced by their new "friends" - leading to constant training and losses.
What do you think?

This amuses me. Meanwhile they have destroyed the careers of millions of people. But that’s ok.

Trump needs to put a tariff on offshoring.

Hmmm.... if saving money is the reason to hire these folks, will IBM cough up a hundred grand? Doubtful, I think. Your thoughts?

let’s see how this plays out

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CMfTZhp_vK4

How will the new 100 k fee for additional H1B visas impact Oxy?

Department of labor now investigating visa abuses.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/us-launches-project-firewall-to-protect-american-workers-in-h-1b-visa-program/ar-AA1MWreB

Here are the reasons why many people are upset with a certain group:

1.  One group takes up more than 70% of the entire H-1B program.
2.  As we all know, some consulting companies abuse the H-1B system because one person can apply multiple times, even if they don’t live in this country.
3.  Cultural issues: Some people only hire others from their own community and don’t really assimilate well.
4.  Quality concerns: Many products from this group are considered low quality.
5.  When the majority of people are having issues with one group, then something must be wrong.
6.  Please reflect on yourselves first—why are so many people from different countries(Canada, Australia, the US, New zealand, even Japan)having the same problems with you?

I can’t wait to see how much MORE Money AT&T will Lose for each H1B Visa replacing American workers. These Executives are highly skilled at Losing Money. 💸

With $100K per H-1B visa, all workers from India, Mexico, and Asia will return to their home country for good. Is this a good thing or is it a bad thing?

The Trump administration has announced a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas, in the latest move to crack down on immigration and protect U.S. workers. The move has rattled the tech sector, with top companies urging their employees holding the visa not to leave the U.S.

The impact: India has been the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas, accounting for 71% of the visa holders in the U.S. last year. Most of these visas go to STEM professionals, and outsourcing companies has seen the most H-1B approvals yearly since 2020. News of the H-1B application fee dragged top Indian tech stocks like TCS, Infosys and Wipro lower on Monday

The new $100,000 H-1B fee only applies when a U.S. company files a petition to bring a foreign worker into the United States on an H-1B visa. Ascension Healthcare outsourced IT to offshore workers in India who remain in India, those workers are not on H-1B visas and the fee does not apply. The cost would only come into play if Ascension or its vendor filed a new H-1B petition to bring one of those workers to the U.S.

This has to really impact the company with all the H1-B folks who work here. I wonder if suddenly the PIPs slow down and the company starts to value their local workforce a little more since I would expect the cost of using H1-B went way, way up.

Companies have been abusing the H-1B to replace US workers with lower-wage foreign workers.

People holding a H-1B visa will now feel insecure and are now planning for an exit from the USA. They now have a target on their back from the US government, telling them that they're not welcome.

Companies will now be reluctant to add additional H-1B visas, as it will be financially unfeasible in most cases.

No one can predict when the US government will instate legislation to once again change things around for the H-1B visa, which could be worse.

I have some personal advice for those here with an H-1B visa. Go and find something better either in your home country or another country that welcomes you. This company and country are not worth it.

I'm personally still with this company because I'm old and was hoping to retire with this company. Yes, I was stupid and have now missed the volunteer retirement boat. I thought I would ride it out for a few more years and eventually sign up for a retirement package or just get laid off. The work atmosphere not only su-ks for H-1B visa people, but it just su-ks for everyone. This once company that I was proud to work for has been long gone. I should have moved on long ago but was too lazy to believe what was coming; I was also a strong believer in Pat. I don't blame anyone except myself for not signing up for the volunteer retirement package that Pat offered.

H-1B visa holders, the present is the best time to plan for an exit. This is a chess match where there's no winning.

https://x.com/PressSec/status/1969495900478488745
1.) This is NOT an annual fee. It’s a one-time fee that applies only to the petition.

2.) Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter.

H-1B visa holders can leave and re-enter the country to the same extent as they normally would; whatever ability they have to do that is not impacted by yesterday’s proclamation.

3.) This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.

There was a post about linking the new H1-B fee to solidifying offshoring. Post got deleted. It had some good information on how this will now make more sense for the bank to open their global capability center (GCC) in India for which they are currently shopping. I wonder why it was deleted. Creating this new post so someone can answer ;-)

The recent increase in the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 significantly impacts companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which heavily rely on exploitation of Indian workers using this visa program to employ serf workers in the U.S.
Financial Implications for TCS
ASPECT DETAILS
Current H-1B Visa Fee Approximately $1,500
New H-1B Visa Fee $100,000 per application
Estimated Cost Increase From about $13.4 million to $1.34 billion annually for Indian IT firms
Dependency on H-1B Visas TCS will reduce the USA workforce by 5,000 - 10,000 workers with no severance to ensure profits and senior management bonuses are met for the Sahibs and Zamindars to ensure their loyalty.

US citizens will be prioritized to be fired first during the first round of firings.
So much for loyalty

Trump has finally signed the new H1-B fee of $100K per APPLICATION fee will spell the end of TCS. The fee will cost TCS about $1.65 Billion over three years. Analysts expect TCS to eliminate at least 5,000 US based employees to compensate for these higher fees and losses. Expect TCS to become very aggressive in laying off US based employees and provide no severance.
It’s time to jump ship before it’s too late. The ship is already taking on lots of water.

https://www.business-standard.com/immigration/h1b-visa-tcs-it-industry-microsoft-meta-infosys-google-us-trump-us-visa-125092000255_1.html

There have been hardly any senior or lead positions open in the data space. Even if something is posted, looks like they are mostly labor filing related openings and you get a response back that you do not meet the expectations. No calls no nothing but just a rejection. This all seems to be internal referrals and 3P conversions or referrals taking up the roles or is it true that there is no need for data related roles at USAA. What's the deal?

https://youtu.be/mAf1TWnb6ok

Fees changing to 100k. Google lowballs candidates hard so I doubt they will pay this unless the candidate is spectacular.

Wonder how this will effect EnGen and Highmark???

It applies to H‑1B visa applicants who are outside the U.S. seeking new entry or visa issuance. The rule requires that, for an H‑1B petition to be accepted (or, more precisely, for visa issuance / entry to be allowed if one is outside the U.S.), the employer must pay a supplemental fee of $100,000.

How do you think the recent announcement requiring $100,000 per year for H1B visas will impact VZ?

Recognizing that existing holders are exempt, what do you think the timing of any impacts will be?

Especially interested to hear from any current H1B or L1 visa holders.

It was already hard to explain why expats help the goal of cost reduction. Now we have to reduce more people to pay their way.
After this deadline, individuals cannot enter the U.S. on H-1B status without an additional $100,000 payment associated with their petition.

This is all about getting the Indian govt to get in line about fair trade. Russian oil, tariffs etc. trump is a master at getting the deal done so wait and see. No more playing both sides, either be fair or get left behind

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-scrambles-clear-h-002724934.html

All current H1b visa holders are safe including the ones who are entering the country with 2025 H1b cycle. The fees doesn't apply to renewals/transfers. It is one time fees per new petition, not an annual fees. The fees is legality is also questionable and will be contested in courts and likely be overturned. Someone asked me yesterday if I knew better than Trump and his cronies about the proclamation...so here is the proof. I knew better!

Enjoy...have a great weekend.

They told us on video this was 100k per year for all the H1B Visa holders, or all 600K. Now its a 1 time fee of 100K for 3 years, its only for non us grads so like only 60K out of the 80K new H1B Visa's. Talk about a walk back, that's like only 1/10th of the original stated headcount. What a let down.