Meta’s H-1B layoffs challenge visa holders and U.S. workers

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a leader in seeking expansion of H-1B visas and work-related immigration. The company’s decision to lay off 13% of its workforce this week illustrates a downside that comes with this advocacy.

Facebook parent Meta is a major employer of H-1B workers. It is listed as H-1B dependent by the U.S. government, meaning 15% or more of its U.S. workforce are visa workers. The company hasn’t disclosed how many of its 11,000 laid off are visa holders, but its job separation benefits include immigration support.

“I know this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa,” Zuckerberg wrote to Meta employees Wednesday.

The layoffs at Meta, Twitter and other Silicon Valley companies that use H-1B workers highlight some of the visa’s complications. Laid-off H-1B workers have 60 days to find another employer or face leaving the country, losing their chance for permanent residency or a green card.

H-1B workers affected by layoffs “are desperate to find another employer immediately,” said Ron Hira, an associate professor of political science at Howard University. He has testified before Congress on the visa program.

“Such desperation means having virtually no bargaining power with prospective employers. And [they] will make huge sacrifices just to stay in the country legally, including [accepting] lower wages and substandard working conditions,” Hira said.

But use of H-1B workers also reduces job opportunities for U.S. tech workers puts downward pressure on wages, Hira argued. H-1B workers willing to take any available job “are directly competing with U.S. workers.”

Meta did not disclose how many of the 11,000 laid-off workers are visa holders. But Zuckerberg has argued at length about the benefits of work visa programs through lobbying group FWD.us, which Zuckerberg co-founded in 2013. According to OpenSecrets, it spent $1.13 million in lobbying in 2022.

Last year, Facebook agreed to pay more than $14 million to settle a Justice Department lawsuit alleging that it “refused to consider” U.S. workers for jobs it earmarked for H-1B holders who were seeking green cards. Employers are required to determine whether any U.S. worker is available for the position.