Lawmakers seek answers from major US firms over H-1B visa use amid layoffs: Report

Big Tech companies, including Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have all announced job cuts this year.

US lawmakers have asked major US companies, including Apple, Amazon and JPMorgan, to explain why they are hiring thousands of foreign workers on H-1B visas while cutting other jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The report comes after the Trump administration said last week it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B visas, which allow businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The U.S. has also released a proposal that would rework the H-1B visa selection process to favor higher-skilled and better-paid workers.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, have written to companies asking for detailed information on the number of H-1B workers they employ, the wages they are paid, and whether American workers have been displaced in the process, the Journal report said.

"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.

Big Tech companies, including Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have all announced job cuts this year.

Deloitte, Alphabet's Google, Meta, Microsoft, Walmart, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Tata Consultancy Services were the other companies that received the letter, according to the report.

India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon and its cloud-computing unit, AWS, received approval for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each.

Walmart, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Cognizant did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Senators Grassley and Durbin also did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.