Trump's $100K H1B Visa: Tech Layoffs Meet Pandemic Prices
Strap in for the rollercoaster of capitalism meets politics: On a lively Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order skyrocketing H1-B visa fees to a jaw-dropping $100,000, effective September 21 for a whole yearâunless extended, of course. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick oddly sold it as an annual 'brain trust tax' to keep out non-super-genius foreigners and coax companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google (aka Alphabet), Meta, Apple, Intel, and Salesforce to retrain Americans instead of hiring foreign maestros! Meanwhile, Trump cheekily roasted unnamed tech giants for laying off legionsâMicrosoft dropped 15,000, Amazon chopped 27,000 (since 2022!), Intel axed 2,400 in Oregon, and Salesforce cut 1,000 in FebruaryâJUST after SCOOPING H1-B workers. To add sparkle to gloom, Trump unveiled the 'Gold Card' visa: shell out a cool $1 million for residency or let your corporation play sugar daddy with a $2 million gift. Because who wouldnât want citizenship sold like a luxury handbag?
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Trump's raising H1-B visa fees to $100K a pop amidst mass layoffs. So, Big Tech can either pay up or cut foreign talent and invest in training American workersâsounds like a budget strategy designed by a plot twist in a sitcom no one asked for.
Because nothing says 'economic growth' like punishing the very skilled workers who keep the tech industry humming while companies simultaneously slash tens of thousands of jobs. Genius level: Trump economics.
Tech giants cutting 27,000 jobs while being smacked with a $100K visa fee for each foreign worker is Peak 2025: The Year of 'Pay More, Hire Less, But Still Lay Off More.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 9/19/2025 | Author: Kelsey Vlamis,Rosalie Chan,Alex Nicoll
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