The H-1B visa programme, which has already been facing heightened scrutiny following President Donald Trump's federal fraud investigation, has come under renewed criticism.
The latest controversy follows Microsoft's announcement of large-scale layoffs, particularly within its Xbox gaming division, reigniting claims that American workers are being replaced by foreign employees hired through the H-1B visa programme. Reacting to the layoffs, a Republican lawmaker called for the programme to be abolished, while several commentators accused Xbox's Indian-origin CEO, Asha Sharma, of intentionally replacing American employees with foreign workers.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced plans to eliminate approximately 4,800 jobs globally, representing about 2.1 per cent of its worldwide workforce. Around 3,200 of these positions are from its Xbox gaming division, as part of a broader restructuring exercise aimed at improving profitability after years of investments that did not generate the anticipated returns.
According to Reuters, the restructuring will also involve the divestment of at least four gaming studios, citing an internal memo circulated by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who assumed the role in February this year.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER CITES XBOX LAYOFFS, CALLS FOR SCRAPPING H-1B
Although Microsoft's layoffs affect employees across multiple countries, some politicians and social media commentators have alleged that the company is replacing American workers with lower-cost Indian professionals hired under the H-1B visa programme.
Microsoft is currently the sixth-largest beneficiary of H-1B visas in the United States. Indian professionals account for more than 70 per cent of approved H-1B petitions each year, including approximately 72.3 per cent of approvals during FY2024.
The criticism gained momentum after a Fox News report, citing data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), stated that Microsoft had received approval in 2026 to employ 2,273 foreign workers through the H-1B programme.
The combination of large-scale layoffs and continued H-1B hiring has prompted critics to argue that American workers are being displaced by lower-cost foreign labour, an allegation that Microsoft has rejected.
Among the strongest critics is West Virginia Republican Representative Riley Moore, who has demanded that the H-1B programme be abolished entirely.
Speaking to Fox News, Moore said, "These companies, especially big tech, are abusing these immigration programmes to replace American workers with foreign workers," adding, "It's long past time to end the H-1B scam."
In a separate interview with West Virginia-based MetroNews, Moore described the programme as "an absolute disaster" for both white-collar and blue-collar American workers. He argued that many H-1B visa holders occupy positions for which American students invest years in higher education or vocational training.
Moore further claimed that legal employment-based immigration, in several respects, posed a greater challenge than illegal immigration when it came to protecting American jobs.
Referring to Microsoft's restructuring, he alleged that "Xbox just laid off 3,200 US workers and then turned around and applied for thousands of H-1B visas to import people from India to do those jobs for pennies on the dollar," before questioning, "What in the world are we doing here?"
In another post on X, Moore accused Microsoft of replacing American workers with Indian employees, describing the practice as "the definition of civilisational suicide" and arguing that it needed to stop.
SOCIAL MEDIA USERS CLAIM AMERICAN JOBS ARE BEING REPLACED
The layoffs also sparked widespread reactions on social media, where several users alleged that American workers were being displaced by lower-cost foreign professionals through the H-1B programme. Some also accused Xbox CEO Asha Sharma of deliberately laying off American employees to facilitate greater hiring from India.
One user on X claimed, "Once a single Indian gets into a position of power, they systematically fire Americans," alleging that Indians were taking over major industries through hiring discrimination and fraud.
Another user argued that companies replacing American workers with visa holders should face criminal penalties, writing that executives responsible should be imprisoned and have their assets seized.
Others claimed that American workers were being "systematically replaced" and blamed the Trump administration for allowing the situation to continue.
One social media user alleged that Sharma had laid off thousands of American workers shortly after the Trump administration approved 2,273 employer-sponsored H-1B positions for Microsoft.
MICROSOFT REJECTS THE ALLEGATIONS
Microsoft has denied that its restructuring is linked to H-1B recruitment.
Responding to the criticism, a company spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the layoffs were "based on business needs, not visa status," adding that H-1B employees in the United States had also been affected by the job cuts.
According to an Associated Press report, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma attributed the restructuring to the company's financial performance.
"Our business today is not healthy," Sharma said in an internal memo. "We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platforms and publishing businesses."
Moore's criticism comes at a time when the H-1B visa programme is facing broader scrutiny across the United States.
American authorities have launched an extensive investigation into alleged fraud and criminal misuse of the H-1B programme, while Vice President JD Vance recently warned about what he described as "foreign fraudsters" exploiting temporary work visas to undercut American workers.
