Visa-holding engineers flee Big Tech amid wave of layoffs and job-security fears
Repeated cuts at major tech firms are prompting foreign-national engineers on OPT and H-1B visas to leave for smaller companies or start their own ventures.
A series of layoffs at leading technology firms has spurred several foreign-national engineers to abandon their roles at large companies in search of greater stability. Vinit Juneja, who holds an F-1 STEM OPT visa, departed Amazon after its 30,000-job reduction to join semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials. Similarly, H-1B holder Ayush Raj Jha left Oracle for a privately owned customer-service software company, citing fears of future cuts.
Federal data show the "Magnificent 7" have secured more than 200,000 H-1B approvals since 2020, yet the industry shed nearly 150,000 workers between January and July, the highest of any sector. Immigration attorneys in Austin, Los Angeles and New York note that clients are proactively seeking new sponsors, starting enterprises, or moving to Canada, Australia, Europe and other regions, describing the trend as an effective brain drain. While some visa holders still value Big Tech for its strong compensation and dedicated immigration teams, the overall shift highlights growing uncertainty about long-term job security for foreign talent in the U.S. tech market.
Why it matters
The exodus of visa-holding talent could weaken U.S. tech firms that rely heavily on foreign engineers.
In this story
