Microsoft’s XBOX faces backlash after laying off 1,600 employees following foreign worker visa approvals

NEW DELHI: Microsoft’s gaming brand XBOX is facing massive social media backlash following the announcement of mass layoffs after securing thousands of foreign worker visas, as reported by Fox News.

Microsoft has announced plans to lay off about 4,800 employees, including around 1,600 from its gaming division XBOX — a company behind the dominant video game console. The job cuts come even as the company has received approval this year to hire 2,273 employer-sponsored foreign workers under the H-1B visa programme, according to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Fox News reported.

Critics, over the internet, claim that American jobs are being unfairly handed to foreigners to cut labor costs, but at the cost of leaving US workers in the lurch.

This is an important email I sent today to all employees at XBOX:

Team,

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include…

— ASHA (@asha_shar) July 6, 2026

An X user said, “A great way to fix this is to throw anyone doing this in prison,” adding “Fire Americans to replace with thousands of visa workers? Straight to jail, and assets seized. This story has been told countless times. Fire American staff and hire foreigners. Over and over”.

Another social media user commented, “It is the fault of our Government [sic] for approving the H-1Bs,” stressing “Our Government [sic] has sold us out of jobs at home and those being moved to other countries.”

“These decisions are based on business need, not visa status. H-1B employees were also impacted by job eliminations in the US,” said a Microsoft spokesperson as reported by Fox News Digital.

Microsoft is the sixth-largest recipient of H-1B visas in the United States, a programme under which the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries are from India. The company has also filed additional H-1B applications that are still pending. While Microsoft has a global workforce, the bulk of its employees are based in the United States. (ANI)