Amazon Blamed AI For Layoffs, Then Hired Cheap H1-B Workers, Senators Allege

An anonymous reader shares a report: Senators are demanding answers from Big Tech companies accused of 'filing thousands of H-1B skilled labor visa petitions after conducting mass layoffs of American employees.' In letters sent to Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft -- among some of the largest sponsors of H-1B visas -- Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) requested 'information and data from each company regarding their recruitment and hiring practices, as well as any variation in salary and benefits between H-1B visa holders and American employees.'

The letters came shortly after Grassley sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requesting that DHS stop 'issuing work authorizations to student visa holders.' According to Grassley, 'foreign student work authorizations put America at risk of technological and corporate espionage,' in addition to allegedly 'contributing to rising unemployment rates among college-educated Americans.'

In the letters to tech firms, senators emphasized that the unemployment rate in America's tech sector is 'well above' the overall jobless rate. Amazon perhaps faces the most scrutiny. US Citizenship and Immigration Services data showed that Amazon sponsored the most H-1B visas in 2024 at 14,000, compared to other criticized firms like Microsoft and Meta, which each sponsored 5,000, The Wall Street Journal reported. Senators alleged that Amazon blamed layoffs of 'tens of thousands' on the 'adoption of generative AI tools,' then hired more than 10,000 foreign H-1B employees in 2025.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.