Thousands of Oracle (ORCL) employees were laid off on Tuesday as part of a restructuring plan. However, the New York Post reported that the tech company has also been actively filing petitions to hire foreign workers. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Oracle submitted about 3,126 H-1B visa petitions in 2025 and 2026. Similarly, Amazon (AMZN), which has also announced large layoffs, filed around 2,675 petitions over the same period. Unsurprisingly, the news sparked backlash online, especially from workers who were recently laid off.
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Trade AMZN with leverageIndeed, some employees described the filings as a “slap in the face,” while others argued that tech companies are cutting jobs only to rehire at lower wages. Furthermore, critics of the H-1B program say that it can disadvantage domestic workers, while companies argue it is necessary to fill specialized roles when qualified local talent is unavailable. It is also worth noting that some visa filings are used to renew or extend existing employees’ visas, not just to bring in new hires.
Nevertheless, these layoffs come during a difficult period for the tech sector. In fact, the first quarter of 2026 saw over 52,000 job cuts, which was a 40% increase compared to last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Many of these cuts are being linked to the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. In addition, other major tech companies are reducing staff, with Meta (META) reportedly planning layoffs that could affect up to 20% of its workforce, although it has pushed back on those claims.
Is ORCL Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on ORCL stock based on 27 Buys, five Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average ORCL price target of $245.11 per share implies 67.5% upside potential.
