14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is going through the biggest reorganization process in its history, and just as CEO Satya Nadella explained, these are tough times for everyone, so more than 25,000 people were impacted and left without a job.
While the layoff took place in several countries across the world where Microsoft was doing business, it’s pretty clear that Americans were affected too, and the new round of job cuts announced yesterday is specifically focused on divisions that are mostly active in the United States.
That’s why US Senator Jeff Sessions has released a statement to point out that Microsoft should rethink its strategy because, while the company fires thousands of employees who already have the experience and know-how to help it ensure long-term profitability, it also asks for more H-1B visas to hire more foreign workers.
Nearly 4,000 foreign workers hired this year alone
Microsoft is indeed one of the companies that have pushed for a bigger number of working permits for foreign employees, claiming that many of its open positions can’t be filled because of the shortage of talented IT workers.
Redmond hired 3,700 foreign workers in 2015, so together with other companies, it required the US government to pass the I-Squared Act that would increase the number of allowed H-1B visas to 195,000 from 65,000.
But Senator Sessions says that Microsoft should first and foremost look at the employees it’s firing these days and only then ask for more working permits for foreign workers.
“Microsoft has just announced it is laying off another 7,800 workers, on top of the 18,000 layoffs it has already announced. This means Microsoft has shed roughly 1/5th of its workforce in the past couple years. And yet Microsoft, perhaps more than any other major U.S. company, has claimed it suffers from a shortage of American workers and must therefore import more H-1B foreign guest workers,” he adds.
“As Microsoft’s layoffs show, there is a surplus - not a shortage - of skilled, talented, and qualified Americans seeking STEM employment. Perhaps these companies, instead of lobbying for H-1B workers, should hire some of the thousands of tech workers who are being laid off?”
Microsoft is yet to release a statement on Sessions’ comments, but we’ve reached out to the company and will update the article when an answer is provided.