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Big Tech has not only relied on global talent to maintain their demanding business endeavors but dominates the majority of the skilled-labor allowed into the country. In 2017, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and Google were in the top 10 employers for approved H-1B visa petitions, according to a National Foundation for American policy report. In 2021, nearly 70% of H-1B visa petition approvals went to "computer-related" occupations. With enough resources and access to top immigration lawyers, Big Tech has been able to receive approvals for nearly all of their H-1B visa petitions in past years, monopolizing most of the foreign-born technical workers.

Leaders of tech corporations have historically critiqued efforts to curtail H-1B visa distribution, calling the 2020 Trump-era visa freeze "incredibly bad policy." In the tech sphere's decade of exuberant growth, specialized and international labor appeared to be integral to their business models.

The limitations of the H-1B process

The recent waves of layoffs, however, have disparately impacted some of the immigrants recruited by these corporations. Laid off immigrant workers on H-1B visas have a 60 day grace period to secure another sponsorship or leave the country.