Internet personality Mike Cernovich questions how many H-1Bs Oracle has after the IT company announced layoffs of 30,000 employees worldwide.
IT firm Oracle announced brutal layoffs affecting 30,000 employees worldwide in an email at 6 a.m. on March 31. Informing employees that March 31 was their last working day, the email said the elimination of the role was part of a broader organizational change. The major layoffs raised the important question of ‘offshoring’ and many people on social media asked how many H-1B visa holders Oracle has. H-1B is a special visa program for hiring foreign workers with specific qualifications, but this program has emerged as the most controversial as companies have been accused of abusing the visa program to hire foreigners at low wages and lay off Americans. Indian-American doctor Pradeep J. Shankar weighed in on the Oracle layoff discussion and said he thinks the H-1B discussion on social media is biased, but he believes every single H-1B should be sent back before a company starts laying off Americans. He was responding to right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich who asked: “How many H-1Bs does Oracle have?”“I think the H1 discussion has not been completely fair or honest, but I completely agree that every single H1 should be sent back before Americans are laid off. No more H1 applications, at least for the time being, Shankar wrote. Oracle India also announced layoffs of 12,000 employees in India. Siddhartha, co-founder of the Indian American Advocacy Council, disagreed with the statement that Oracle laid off Americans because of H-1B and said that when layoffs happen across departments, it affects both Americans and visa holders. Siddharth wrote, “I understand the sentiment but this won’t work. When there is a layoff it affects both the Americans and the visa holders of that specific department. An H1B software engineer cannot be fired as American HR has been fired.” Responding to Cernovich’s question, several people said that Oracle America sponsors approximately 2000-3000 H-1B visa holders. And it cannot be solely blamed for the shootings of 30,000 people worldwide. “So an H1 director needs to be fired because they are firing an intern,” one wrote to Dr. Shankar. “Removing the H1B with Americans would send all the jobs to India, China, and other countries. There is already documented evidence: The more unreasonable barriers you put on the H1B, the more tech jobs will move out. How does this actually help the US economy or American workers?” Another wrote.