Temporary workers play a vital role in the growth of the US economy. Small and large companies rely on temp workers to support their operations in order to meet the growing demand for their products and services, although temporary workers account for only 2 percent of total non-farm employment in the United States.
According to Statista, temporary and contract staffing employment was about 13.6 million. Over the past 3 years, tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Stripe have sponsored 45,000 H-1 B tech workers. Most tech giants rely on engineering talent from India, China, and other countries around the world to maintain a competitive edge in a fast-moving tech industry.
A H-1 B is a temporary visa that allows US companies to hire foreign professionals to perform services in a specialty occupation, according to the USCIS. The US currently allows a maximum of 65,000 H-1 B workers per year who are allowed to stay between three and six years.
At least 140,000 tech workers have lost their jobs as tech layoffs sweep across the nation, according to Layoffs. Since COVID- 19 tech layoffs have been tracked using data compiled from public reports, according to FYI.
There isn't currently any data about the number of affected laid-off temp tech workers. The layoffs by Meta and Twitter had a significant impact on the lives of around 350 immigrant workers, according to Bloomberg. Before Elon Musk s layoffs started last month, Twitter alone employed 700 H-1 B temporary tech workers.
These laid off temp tech workers and H-1 B visa holders have 60 to 90 days to find new jobs here in the US to avoid being deported to their native countries.
Sophie Alcorn is an immigration lawyer from Mountain View, California, who specializes in securing visas for tech workers, because of the amazing talent pool that the U.S. is fortunate to attract, and they are always on the edge. Many of them are up against the 60 day grace period. It is a stressful time for everyone. The global economic downturn that started in the second quarter of this year is beginning to have a significant impact on tech companies. In July, more than 85,000 tech workers lost their jobs, as we reported last month. The number has risen to 41,000 in the first week of September, according to a latest tally from CrunchBase, a platform for finding business information about private and public companies.
In the past few months, tech companies, financial firms, and banks have reduced their headcount and slowed hiring due to the looming recession, higher interest rates, the energy crisis in Europe, and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The new inflation data shows that the US tech layoffs may be on the table for the foreseeable future. In just one day, the six largest U.S. tech companies lost $500 billion in just one day of the stock market rout. Apple, the world's most valuable public company, suffered the most loss closing at $153.84 for a loss of just under 6%. Microsoft lost more than 4%, Meta Platforms fell more than 7%, and the chip giant Nvidia shed 9.5%.