When thousands of Oracle employees woke up earlier this week to an email informing them that they had lost their jobs, many of them were unaware that the technology company was fielding large numbers of applications to hire foreign workers.
According to federal data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Oracle filed approximately 3,126 petitions to hire H-1B workers in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, with 436 of those petitions filed in 2026 alone.The H‑1B visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals in specialized occupations such as technology and defense. Companies must petition the US government to prove they cannot find local candidates with similar skills.The details of visa applications have sparked controversy. On Blind, a forum for certified professionals, one user described Oracle’s H‑1B petitions as “a slap in the face.” “If this doesn’t make you angry, maybe you need to read some honest posts on LinkedIn from Oracle employees who are US citizens and were laid off after working at Oracle for years,” the post added. Another commenter said: “Look at all the big tech companies, they are laying off huge numbers of workers and then hiring them back at a lower salary.”
The mass layoffs at Oracle were reported Tuesday in emails telling employees: “After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last day of employment.” The affected workers were informed that they would be “eligible for a severance package in accordance with the terms and conditions of the severance plan.”The controversy surrounding H-1B filings comes against the backdrop of similar actions taken by other major technology companies. Amazon, which announced last January that it would cut 16,000 corporate jobs, filed about 2,675 H-1B petitions during the same two-year period.MAGA figures and “America First” supporters say companies that employ large numbers of H-1B workers are hurting American workers. The wave of layoffs recorded more than 52,000 jobs in the first three months of 2026, a notable increase compared to the same period last year, as artificial intelligence reshapes employment patterns.
