XBOX Layoffs Under Scrutiny as Microsoft Brings in 2,273 H-1B Visa Workers

Elected officials are also calling for the removal of Asha Sharma from her new federal advisory role.

Things are getting messy for Microsoft and XBOX. Recently, we reported that both companies would be laying off a combined 4,800 workers, with 3,200 of them coming from XBOX alone. What hadn't been noticed until more recently, however, is that Microsoft has been approved for 2,273 H-1B visa workers this year. If you're unfamiliar, those in the H-1B program are foreign workers brought in to work in the United States.

The H-1B system is heavily criticized as a way for corporations to eliminate American workers in order to bring in foreign replacements who are not paid as much. Thus, it makes sense that there's outcry over these layoffs when Microsoft apparently has no problem swapping out essentially half of those let go for these H-1B replacements. It certainly makes the layoffs look worse than they already did.

Making matters worse, now officials are calling for Asha Sharma to be removed from her advisory position with the Federal Reserve. Back at the beginning of July, Sharma was added to the Productivity and Jobs Task Force to evaluate the economic impacts of AI and new technologies. The move itself raised eyebrows at the time, as Sharma was the former President of the CoreAI product division at Microsoft, which led many to wonder how indifferent she could possibly be about the impact of AI on the American workforce.

With word of Microsoft bringing in H-1B visa workers to replace so much of the laid off staff, Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia has sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh asking that Sharma be removed from the task force. Between the layoffs and the H-1B hires, Moore argues that her being in "an advisory position centered on productivity and employment" seems inappropriate, given the circumstances. No word yet from the Federal Reserve, but if that changes, we'll be sure to let you all know.

Source: The American Bazaar