On Tuesday morning, thousands of Oracle employees found an unsettling email in their inboxes announcing they had been laid off. Unbeknownst to many, the tech giant has simultaneously been making efforts to recruit foreign workers.
Data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reveals that Oracle has submitted around 3,126 H-1B visa petitions for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. These petitions are necessary for hiring foreign professionals in specialized fields, such as technology. Notably, 436 of these petitions were lodged this year alone.
Similarly, Amazon, which announced plans to cut 16,000 corporate positions in January, has filed approximately 2,675 H-1B petitions during the same fiscal period. This news follows the company’s October announcement of further layoffs affecting 14,000 corporate roles.
The revelation of Oracle’s efforts to hire foreign workers has ignited a wave of criticism on social media platforms.
On Blind, a popular anonymous forum among verified professionals, one user expressed their frustration, describing the H-1B petitions as a “slap in our face.”
“If this 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 laid off after working at Oracle for years,” the user added.
Another commenter posted on the site: “Look at all big tech companies, they do massive layoffs then rehire at lower salary.”
A third added: “Transnational corporations are disloyal to the American state and the nation.”
Neither Oracle nor Amazon replied to requests for comment.
Companies submit H-1B petitions seeking permission from the U.S. government to hire foreign workers because they can’t find local candidates with comparable skills. Firms have said the program is essential in the race to develop cutting-edge technology, while critics say the program places American workers at a disadvantage.
Companies may also need to submit petitions to renew or extend current H-1B visas.
The backlash this week came after the company, chaired by billionaire Larry Ellison, informed “thousands” of workers across the world that Tuesday would be their last day.
“After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change,” copies of the email viewed by Business Insider stated.
The terminated employees were told they would be “eligible to receive a severance package subject to the terms and conditions of the severance plan.”
H-1B visas were the subject of an uproar in September after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation that imposed a $100,000 per year fee on some H-1B visa holders. The program is heavily used in Silicon Valley and the sudden news sent companies that rely on the workers scrambling.
Oracle’s mass layoffs come as US tech employment had its worst start to the year since 2023, with AI blamed for tens of thousands of brutal job cuts.
The first three months of 2026 saw 52,050 tech layoffs — a 40% jump from the same period last year, executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report published Thursday, with artificial intelligence increasingly being blamed for the cuts.
Meta said in March it was planning sweeping layoffs — with 20% of its workforce, or about 15,000 employees, on the chopping block, according to Reuters.
