Microsoft responds to H-1B visa conspiracy theories about layoffs; says: Let’s clear it up that majority of roles impacted were not American and H-1B figures are…
Microsoft’s communications chief has stepped in to shut down a claim spreading online that the company fired American workers only to replace them with H-1B visa holders. Frank X. Shaw, who leads communications at Microsoft, posted a point-by-point rebuttal after the theory picked up steam in the days following the company’s July 6 announcement that it was cutting 4,800 jobs, roughly 2.1% of its global workforce, with the Xbox division absorbing the heaviest blow.
“Lots of bad information out there—let’s clear it up,” Shaw wrote. His central argument: the workforce changes were made because the Xbox business is struggling, not because Microsoft wanted cheaper foreign labour.
