Thousands of Oracle employees received termination emails on Tuesday while the company simultaneously pursues hiring thousands of foreign workers through H-1B visa programs.
The New York Post reports that Oracle has sparked widespread criticism after it was revealed that the technology giant filed approximately 3,126 petitions to employ H-1B foreign workers during fiscal years 2025 and 2026, even as the company executed mass layoffs impacting thousands of employees. According to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 436 of those petitions were submitted this year alone.
The timing of these visa applications has drawn particular scrutiny. On Tuesday, Oracle informed what the company described as thousands of workers across the globe that their employment was being terminated immediately. The coldly-worded layoff notification email, copies of which were reviewed by Business Insider, stated: After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change. Affected employees were told they would be eligible for severance packages subject to the terms of the company’s severance plan.
The contrast between domestic job cuts and foreign hiring efforts triggered significant outrage on social media platforms. On Blind, an anonymous forum for verified employees, one user described the H-1B petitions as a slap in the face of Oracle’s American employees. The same commenter added: “If this doesn’t make you angry, maybe you need to read some heartfelt posts on LinkedIn from Oracle employees who are US citizens and have been laid off after working at Oracle for years.”
Other users on the platform expressed similar sentiments. One commenter noted: “Look at all big tech companies, they do massive layoffs then rehire at lower salary.” Another user posted: “Transnational corporations are disloyal to American state and the nation.”
Oracle is not alone in pursuing foreign talent while reducing domestic workforces. Amazon, which announced in January that it would eliminate 16,000 corporate positions, filed approximately 2,675 H-1B petitions during the same two-year fiscal period. This followed the company’s October announcement that it was cutting 14,000 corporate workers.
The controversy surrounding Oracle’s hiring practices emerges during a particularly difficult period for technology sector employment. According to a report published Thursday by executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the first quarter of 2026 witnessed 52,050 technology layoffs, representing a 40 percent increase from the same period in 2025. This marked the worst start to a year for tech employment since 2023.
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
