When thousands of Oracle employees woke up earlier this week to an email telling them they had lost their jobs, many were unaware that the technology company was filing large numbers of applications to hire foreign workers. According to federal data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Oracle submitted approximately 3,126 petitions to employ H‑1B workers in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, of which 436 petitions were filed in 2026 alone.The H‑1B visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations such as technology and defense. Companies must petition the US government to demonstrate that they cannot find local candidates with equivalent skills.
The details of the visa filing sparked controversy. On Blind, a forum for verified professionals, one user described Oracle’s H‑1B petitions as “a slap in the face.” The post said: “If that doesn’t make you angry, maybe you need to read some heartfelt posts on LinkedIn from Oracle employees who are US citizens and have been fired after working at Oracle for years.” Another commenter said: “Look at all the big tech companies, they do massive layoffs and then hire at low wages.”Oracle’s mass layoffs were communicated in an email to employees on Tuesday: “After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have decided to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. As a result, today is your last day of work.” Affected workers were informed that they would be eligible to receive a severance package “subject to the terms and conditions of the severance plan.”The controversy over H‑1B filings comes against a backdrop of similar actions by other big technology companies. Amazon, which announced in January that it would cut 16,000 corporate jobs, filed about 2,675 H‑1B petitions during the same two-year period.MAGA veterans and ‘America First’ supporters say American workers are harmed by companies hiring large numbers of H‑1B workers. The wave of layoffs saw more than 52,000 jobs cut in the first three months of 2026, a significant increase compared to the same period last year, as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes employment patterns.