H-1B hiring: Tech companies accused of bending rules with newspaper job listings

Amid mass layoffs from major tech companies, the companies have now been accused of bending hiring rules in the local newspaper advertisements that they are mandated to advertise before hiring. While the rules say these roles are to be advertised for US-born workers, a Newsweek report claimed that the companies are clearly targeting immigrants as the candidates are asked to send resumes to immigration or "global mobility" departments.

'Companies are routinely discriminating against Americans'

Jobs.Now, a website seeking out H-1B roles to share them with Americans, told Newsweek that Americans are not even aware that major tech companies are routinely discriminating against them. "At a time when unemployment for college graduates is shifting sharply upward, it is important to call out hiring discrimination that could keep Americans unemployed," they said.

Jobs.Now also said that recruitment for these roles is done separately from the companies standard recruitment process.

"These unusual application methods are likely to drive fewer applications than normal processes like posting ads on the company job board or on mainstream career sites like LinkedIn," they said.

The Newsweek report cited a San Francisco Chronicle advertisement given by OpenAI. It said it was hiring a software engineer but the resumes were to be sent to the "global mobilty team".

Another tech company, Instacard, offered multiple positions, with a similar department taking applications, while Udemy, an online learning platform, wanted a director of marketing analytics and data science, with resumes to be sent to "immigration@udemy.com", the Newsweek report said.

H-1B is at the center of a major row going on in the US job market, with the MAGA activists blaming the visa program for the unemployment of the American youth. H-1B allows US companies to hire foreign talent, but companies hire H-1Bs even for entry-level positions too, so that they have to pay lower wages to the foreigners than the American standard. The Trump administration is planning a major H-1B overhaul in favor of US graduates.