Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed several major tech companies Wednesday about their reliance on the H-1B visa program amid recent layoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The senators sent letters to top executives at Amazon, Apple, Cognizant, Google, Meta and Microsoft, as well as Deloitte, JPMorgan Chase, Tata Consultancy Services and Walmart. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are concerned about some troubling employment trends in the tech industry,\u201d Grassley and Durbin wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, pointing to reports of rising unemployment in the sector<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith 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,\u201d the two senators added. <\/p>\n The other companies received largely similar letters, questioning why they are hiring foreign workers while also conducting layoffs and whether they make a \u201cgood faith effort\u201d to fill roles with Americans before turning to the H-1B visa program. <\/p>\n The senators also pressed the firms over how they are listing H-1B recruitment ads, whether American workers have been displaced by H-1B workers, how these employees’ salaries compare to their U.S. counterparts and whether the companies rely on outsourcing for hiring. <\/p>\n