Internet personality Mike Cernovich wonders how many H-1Bs Oracle has after the IT company announced 30,000 layoffs worldwide.
IT company Oracle announced harsh layoffs affecting 30,000 employees worldwide in an email at 6 a.m. on March 31. Informing employees that March 31 was their last day of work, the email stated that eliminating the role was part of a broader organizational change.
The massive layoff raised the crucial question of “offshoring,” and many on social media wondered how many H-1B visa holders Oracle had. The H-1B is a specialized visa program to hire foreign workers with specific qualifications, but this program has emerged as the most controversial as companies are accused of abusing the visa program to hire foreigners at lower wages and fire Americans. Indian-American doctor Pradeep J. Shanker commented on the layoff discussion at Oracle and said he believes the H-1B discussion on social media is biased, but he believes every H-1B should be brought back before the company starts laying off Americans. He was responding to right-wing journalist Mike Cernovich, who asked: “How many H-1B planes does Oracle have?”“I think the H1 discussion was not entirely fair or honest, but I completely agree that every H1 should be returned before we start demobilizing Americans.
“At least no more H1 orders for a while,” Shanker wrote.
Oracle India also announced layoffs of 12,000 employees in India. Siddharth, co-founder of the American Indian Defense Council, disagreed with the narrative that Oracle is laying off Americans because of H-1Bs, and said that when layoffs happen across departments, it affects both Americans and visa holders. “I understand the sentiment but this is not going to work. When there are layoffs, it affects both Americans and visa holders in that specific department.
“An H1b software engineer cannot be fired because US HR was fired,” Siddharth wrote. In response to Cernovich’s question, many pointed out that Oracle America sponsors about 2,000-3,000 H-1B visa holders. It cannot be blamed solely for the expulsion of thirty thousand people around the world. Someone wrote to Dr. Shanker: “So the H1 manager should be fired because they are laying off the intern.” “Offshoring H1Bs alongside Americans will only ship the entire job function to India, China and other countries. There is already documented evidence: The more unreasonable barriers you place on H1Bs, the more tech jobs will be offshored. How does that help the US economy or American workers?” another wrote.
