Senators want answers from Big Tech on H-1B workers, layoffs
Top members on the Judiciary Committee wrote to Amazon, Apple and other big companies, with the lawmakers raising concerns about layoffs and slumping job prospects for Americans.
WASHINGTON—Big U.S. companies are facing heightened scrutiny from Capitol Hill over their use of foreign employees on H-1B visas, with lawmakers raising concerns about layoffs and slumping job prospects for Americans.
On Wednesday evening, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) sent letters to the country’s largest users of H-1B visas—including Amazon, Apple and JPMorgan Chase—asking them to explain why they continue to hire thousands of H-1B visa holders while also cutting other jobs.
The senators asked for detailed information on how many H-1B workers the companies employ, what wages they are paid, and whether American workers have been displaced in the process. The letters cited reporting by the Journal about the weak tech job market.
The move comes less than a week after President Trump announced an overhaul of the H-1B program, including a new $100,000 fee for companies sponsoring foreign workers. That move caused panic for some companies worried they could retroactively be on the hook for fee payments. They mobilized HR teams and lawyers to address employee concerns and ensure compliance.
The H-1B system, created in 1990, is the primary pathway for foreign professionals to work in the U.S. Roughly 700,000 people currently live in the country on H-1B visas, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of government data, with technology firms among the biggest users. Most H-1B holders are from India and China.
Amazon, the largest H-1B sponsor in the U.S., won approval for more than 14,000 new hires on the visa in fiscal 2025—the most of any company—even as it has announced layoffs affecting tens of thousands of jobs in recent years.
“With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that Amazon cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions," the senators wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
Aside from Amazon, Apple, and JP Morgan, the other companies receiving letters included Deloitte, Alphabet’s Google, Meta, Microsoft, Walmart, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Tata Consultancy Services. The firms were asked to respond by Oct. 10.
Trump’s announcement has already rattled American businesses. In the days after the policy was unveiled, companies scrambled to assess its reach. Microsoft and JPMorgan were among the companies that advised H-1B employees to remain in the U.S. or return immediately, fearing they could be barred from re-entry or hit with unexpected costs.
To hire H-1B workers, employers have to attest they will pay them the same wage as other workers with similar experience and qualifications, or the prevailing wage in the field in which they will be working. In 2024, recipients earned a median salary of $120,000, nearly double the median earnings of roughly $62,000 a year for a full-time worker in the U.S.
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