I was looking through the official 2026 h1b / lca data published by the DOL (it's mandatory to disclose to them). the dol publishes these public disclosure files for h1b, h1b1 and E3 applications.
for jpmorgan chase, i used the 2026 employer data available through h1bhq:
https://h1bhq.com/search?employerSlug=JPMORGAN-CHASE-and-co-2&fiscalYear=2026
the figures below come from that dataset.
jpmorgan chase is cutting us jobs while filing for 1,843 h-1b positions...
this is the part i have trouble understanding.
jpmorgan chase has been cutting roles in the US. at the same time, the 2026 h-1b data shows 1,843 records for jpmorgan/chase.
the average listed wage is $162,992 (healthy)
this is not mostly a handful of unusual specialist positions. a large portion of the filings are for technology jobs.
some of the most common titles:
278 - vice president, lead software engineer
158 - associate, software engineer iii
102 - software engineer
102 - vice president, sr lead software engineer
60 - financial analyst
54 - vice president, sr manager of software engineering
40 - vice president, product manager
28 - business intelligence analyst
24 - vice president, manager of software engineering
23 - data scientist
22 - vice president, applied ai ml lead
the geographic concentration is also interesting.
400 - new york, ny
348 - jersey city, nj
304 - plano, tx
219 - wilmington, de
176 - columbus, oh
71 - tampa, fl
55 - palo alto, ca
51 - san francisco, ca
47 - chicago, il
42 - houston, tx
80% of the records are concentrated in just NY, jersey city, plano, wilmington and columbus.
i understand why the h-1b program exists...companies sometimes need skills they say they cannot readily find in the domestic labor market.
but that raises an obvious question when a company is also reducing its us workforce.
if the co has enough work to sponsor hundreds of software engineers, data specialists, product managers and other professionals, why are employees in the US being laid off or having their positions eliminated?
are these completely different skills and organizations?
are laidoff employees being considered for these openings?
are positions being eliminated in one part of the company while essentially similar positions are being filled through h-1b sponsorship elsewhere?
or is this simply part of a broader strategy to change where and how the company sources its workforce?
i am not saying every h1b filing represents a replacement for an american worker.
but... 1,843 records in one year (we have 3 mo to go), with an average listed wage of nearly $163K, is large enough that employees deserve to understand how this hiring fits with the layoffs... and job cuts they are seeing around them.
what are you seeing? are teams actually short of people? are laidoff positions being refilled?
are h1b workers joining areas that have recently had reductions?
specific teams, locations and job titles would be relevant.